Skyward
by Fabro de Verbis
Summary: Imagine a Ninjago where dragons have been extinct for centuries. No one expects the scaly beasts to reappear, especially not four certain teens. "You must protect the people," Sensei says. But why should they, if it means they might be hunted down? For that's what will happen if they spinjitzu. The ninja will become dragons.
1. Dragon?

"Over the planks, dodge the swords, here comes the dummy!" As Jay ran towards the last skeleton, the energy building beneath his skin became suddenly unbearable. He couldn't ignore it any longer, it demanded release. So when his feet left the ground and carried him into a spin, Jay didn't resist. He let his body and instincts take control.

Lightning. It started near his feet, swallowing up his body in a hazy mist of blue. _ What- what's happening?_ Even as the question formed on his lips, he already knew. _I'm doing spinjitzu!_

A skeleton popped into view, and he instinctively directed his spinjitzu tornado at it. _ This is so cool! And Cole said he'd be the first… ha!_

_"Jay! How did you do it?"_

Aaand yep, there was that new kid, impulsive and demanding as always. Jay bowled into a third skeleton, attacking with his nun-chuks. He considered just not answering, but he knew that his teammates didn't need to lose out on account of the hot-head. And if Kai was going to be the fourth member of their team… well, he'd need to know too.

"I'm just going through the motions!" _Wait, how do I stop this thing?_ He spun to a halt, immediately noticing the lack of extra energy. "Remember? The training course?"

"Hmm, over the planks... Dodge the swords... Here comes the dummy!" Kai repeated. He too went through the familiar motions of the obstacle course, a tad bit unsure, but gaining confidence.

Jay couldn't help but grin as the red ninja was enveloped in a fiery spinjitzu twister. "Just like that!" He tried to spinjitzu again, this time without the running start. It was a tad more difficult, but he found if he twisted his upper body, the rest of the motions flowed easily.

With spinjitzu on their side, the cavern was emptied in no time. Jay chased the last skeleton out, spinning to a stop. _That was so awesome! _He bounced from foot to foot, still high on adrenaline.

"Jay, get over here!"

Cole beckoned to him from across the cave. He was standing beside the blocked entrance, and Jay remembered why they were even in the caves to begin with. _The Scythe of Quakes! _He dashed over, taking his place beside Kai. As one, the four ninja pushed. The stone moved. The caves trembled. Dust settled. And there it was, bathed in a soft glow: the first Golden Weapon.

Cole scrambled up the stack of rocks and boulders, prying the scythe from the top. He wrapped it in burlap, tossing it down to Zane. He slid down the pile, reclaiming his weapon. "Hey, didn't Sensei Wu say there was a guardian or something?"

Jay thought back to his conversations with the Sensei. "Actually, yeah, he did."

"That's what he told me," Kai chimed in.

"As well as me."

"Well where is he?" Cole scanned the area carefully, as if he was expecting a masked man with a sword to pop from the ground. It was making Jay anxious, to be honest.

"Would you stop that?' he asked. "The guardian-person must have died a long time ago, considering how old Sensei is."

"He's right," Kai agreed. "Nobody's been here for a long time. And I don't have time to sit around, waiting for some fictional guardian."

"We know," Jay deadpanned, Cole echoing him. "Your sister."

Kai rolled his eyes. "Let's get going."

The group left the cave, not knowing that their greatest power would become their greatest weakness.

* * *

Kai grunted, shifting his balance to keep from falling. "Can you reach them?"

"I believe so." Zane leapt up, snatched the shurikens, and instantly froze into a solid block.

Kai staggered under the sudden weight, nearly dropping the block of ice. Together, with the help of Cole and Jay, he lowered it to the ground.

"What do we do now?" Jay asked. He probed the block with his foot. "It's not like he's gonna thaw anytime soon."

"Uh, duh, fire spinjitzu?" Kai rubbed his hands together. "I'll have him out in no time."

"Not in here!" Cole hissed. "Think about it, Kai. The entire temple is made of ice!"

"A little spinjitzu wouldn't hurt it, either!" Kai argued, but the black ninja cut him off.

"Let's just get him back to the ship." he told them. "Then you can use your spinjitzu. Jay, you're with Kai. Take the sides near the back; I'll lead. On three!"

Kai hefted the ice onto his shoulder, finding it easier than he'd anticipated. He followed Cole's lead -and when did that first start?- and together, they set off. They'd almost made the entrance of the temple, and Kai's back was starting to ache, when frenzied laughter erupted from behind them.

"Skeletons!" Jay cried. "Kai, take over!" He dropped his side of the block, and Kai scrambled to correct the balance.

"Keep moving, Cole!"

The two ninja hauled their teammate down the icy stairs, away from the temple. Cole looked back, gauging the distance. "I think it should be fine now," he decided.

Kai took a step back, launching into a spinjitzu tornado. The signature reds and oranges of fire spinjitzu flashed as he wore away at the ice block. It was too hard to look down and keep focus, so he watched Cole's face. When his concentrated look melted away to concern, Kai backed off and spun to a stop.

"Zane, are you okay?" Jay appeared beside him, making Kai's heart jump. He'd thought he was a good ninja, but these three put him to shame! Well, at least in the sneaking part. Surely he was much better at fighting.

"He needs to get warmed up, now!" Cole's command woke Kai from his tangent. The other two were bracing the ice ninja on either side, and Kai realized the earth ninja was addressing him.

"I'll go have Sensei Wu start one!"

* * *

"Zane, can you get them with your shurikens?"

Cole stood off to the side, careful not to touch the walls. They were in the Floating Ruins, and he'd already seen what the crackling buildings had done to the skeletons. Electricity was everywhere, making his clothes and hair staticky, and he kept shocking himself on his own scythe.

The ice ninja threw, dislodging the nun-chuks from their hook on the wall. Jay caught the glowing weapon in his right hand... and threw in a backflip that almost electrocuted him. Cole facepalmed.

"Jay!" When the lightning ninja looked over to him innocently, Cole continued. "Don't get yourself killed!"

"Hey, relax! I had it all under control!"

Cole doubted that, but he knew arguing with Jay would get him nowhere. Instead, he turned to Zane. "Can you see Kai?"

"He's running to us now," the white ninja reported. "I sense that he bears bad news."

"Guys!" Kai appeared in the doorway, out of breath. "The skeletons are climbing the chain!"

"They are?" Jay shrieked. "And they must be close, if you can see them! How the heck will we get down now?"

The lightning ninja launched into one of his complaints, so Cole tuned him out. Jay had a point though, how would they get out of the city? _Running, not an option, climbing down, unlikely, flying- _A thought popped into his head. _Jay! Didn't he say he met Sensei Wu while testing out an invention for flight? _

"Jay, can you create something to let us fly out of here?"

"Like my storm gliders!"

Cole had no idea what those were, but he nodded anyways. "Yeah, like that. Can you?"

"Ha, of course I can! Just give me a couple of minutes."

Jay got to work, tying ropes and connecting pieces of wood and cloth to create frames. He fastened pieces to his teammates' backs. "When you get near the ground, pull this rope to activate the wings!"

"Are you sure this is safe?" Zane, for once, looked uncertain. Cole agreed with him privately. The wobbly frames looked like they could snap in half if a stiff breeze blew in.

"Of course!" Jay was indignant. "What makes you think they aren't?"

"Oh, just the fact that you crashed into a billboard with them," Kai butted in.

"Well, it's use them or stay up here for the skeletons to get you. Now come on!"

He ran to the edge of the floating platform and jumped without a hint of hesitance. Cole heard him whooping on the way down.

"Kai, you go next. I'll follow, and Zane will bring up the lead."

The fire ninja leapt into action. He tightened his pack and stepped off the platform yelling. Now it was Cole's turn. He took a deep breath, felt for his cord, and jumped.

A feeling of nothingness, then gravity took over and Cole was sent speeding towards the ground. Wind whistled past, and he fought to stay in the position Jay had told them: slightly upright, but with the chest pointed down. The ground loomed up at him, and he jerked at his rope. There was a hissing, unfurling noise, and then the wind caught the cloth and he was carried back up.

Cole let himself breathe, glancing back towards the Ruins. _Three down, one to go._

* * *

Kai reached for his sword, but his hand only grasped empty air. _I must have left it back at the camp! _

"Tick tock, little ninja," Garmadon taunted. "What's your decision?"

Kai didn't need to think that one through. He sprinted to the edge of the platform, yanked the sword from the rock, and spinjitzued over to Nya. He was halfway to his falling sister when his spinjitzu flew out of control.

It was too hot. Too strong. Kai tried to correct himself, but his motions had become sharp and exaggerated. His foot slammed into a rock, and he tripped and tumbled into the lava.

_What's happening? This never happened before! What's going on! _Kai waited for searing pain, but it never came. _Am I dead? No, I can't be!_ He floundered in the lava, but his arms weren't responding correctly and his body was numb. _Okay Kai, don't panic. You're not dead._ He wiggled his arms again, and then his legs. Feeling was returning to them, and yet they still weren't moving properly. He needed air. He kicked out, and pushed his way to the surface.

A high scream tore through the air, making Kai wince. Since when had his hearing been so sensitive? He opened his eyes, quickly finding his sister. Her mouth was open, it looked like she was ready to scream again.

_Is it my hair? Oh my gosh, am I bald?_ Kai climbed onto the rocks- and froze. _ What. Are. Those._ Claws. Shiny, golden claws, anchoring him to the rocks. And attached to those- Kai was going to be sick. Red wings, tipped in gold. He was- he was a-

"Dragon!"


	2. Fight

_No. This can't be happening. Nope. Nope, nope, nope._ Kai stared down at the claws, his breath coming in ragged gasps. _A dragon. I'm a dragon now. Okay then. I can work with this._

"Where is Kai?" demanded Nya. Her voice was shrill to his oversensitive ears. "What did you do to my brother? He's not dead- he can't be dead…"

Kai was moving before he could think. He stepped closer to his sister, crooning softly.

"Get away from me!"

"Ah, my brother's guardian. Not even you can keep me from the golden weapon!"

Kai had almost forgotten about Garmadon. He turned to face the shadow now, a growl building in his throat.

The shadow split. Five figures charged, and Kai's survival instincts kicked in. He put his foot on the sword. "Stay back!"

The shadows didn't listen. Kai flexed the claws on his wings, finding the action similar to balling his fists. _Okay, so you think you can take me on? I'm a dragon now!_ He lifted his wing, slashing at a figure. His movements were clumsy and exaggerated, but that didn't matter. His claw went right through the shadow. The same happened with all the others. _Wait, why can't I touch them?_

The shadows pushed back, attacking together. One shadow swung at his wing, but instead of passing through, the blow connected. Another, then another followed. It was too much. Kai's head already throbbed from sensory overload, and his focus was suffering.

Kai stumbled back, losing his grip on the sword. He scrambled to correct his mistake, but it was too late. Garmadon stooped to pick up the sword, raising it in triumph. "Finally, all the golden weapons are mine!"

Kai snarled. _That's my sword!_ He flung himself at Garmadon, slamming into the wall behind him. His vision blurred; he almost missed the figure to jump down in front of him.

"Brother!" Garmadon hissed, right as Nya asked, "aren't you that man who came to our shop?"

Kai pushed himself up on shaky wings. Indeed, it was the elderly sensei, and he was holding his own remarkably well against the other shadows. _Wow, I never would have guessed Sensei Wu was this good of a fighter! He always struck me as more of an instructor._

When the Sensei created an eagle using his hands, Kai's eyes widened. _Of course! I can't fight a shadow, but my shadow could!_ He calculated a jump, landing in the center of the temple and casting his shadow on the walls. The copies jumped, fleeing back into the darkness.

Kai couldn't help but feel accomplished. _Hey, I'm really getting the hang of this dragon thing!_ His headache had faded into the background, in fact, he barely noticed it anymore. He cocked his head, sounds spilled into his ears but they weren't overwhelming like before.

He glanced back to Sensei Wu, only to find him picking up the sword from the ground. He stepped over to Nya, cutting through her chains.

"What did he mean by that?" she asked. "And what's the importance of these weapons?" She locked eyes with Kai, and her face paled. "Better yet, what are we gonna do about the dragon?"

"The dragon?" Sensei Wu looked confused. "Oh, that dragon! Don't worry about it. It's here to guard the weapon, nothing more. It won't harm you."

Kai bristled._ It? Really?_ He growled at the teacher, who took a step back.

"Watch yourself, dragon." The sensei turned to Nya. "As I was saying, if my brother brings the other weapons here, I must take this one away."

A leap surprisingly nimble for a man of his age, and Wu was sitting cross-legged on a slab of stone. He used the sword to break away from the rocks. Then he pulled out a teapot from the master-knows-where and proceeded to pour himself a cup.

_Wait, he's actually doing it!_ Kai hesitated a second, remembering the slights against him. Then his loyalties won out. But those critical seconds of inaction had cost him. The rock slab tipped over the edge, and Wu was gone.

* * *

Jay jumped to the next branch and caught a peek at the skeletons. _Those no-good boneheads, I'll get my weapon back!_ He leaped to another branch, pausing for a breath.

Cole appeared next to him, black robes melting into the night. "We need to stop them from getting to the Fire Temple!" he whispered.

"You don't say!" Jay whispered back.

The earth ninja huffed. "Just follow my lead." He dropped down and seized a trailing chain from the main vehicle. The truck slowed considerably, Jay snorted as their curses filled the air.

Zane swung onto a motorcycle, eliminating both the skeletons riding it. Jay leaped to the next branch and waited. When the truck was directly below him, he dropped down.

Jay flattened himself against the hood, taking a moment to admire the design. Scraping noises of bone against metal, and Jay lashed out with his nun-chucks. The two skeletons fell with a clang, and he jumped to his feet in time to block the next attack.

"Ninja go!" Jay reached for the energy inside him, the quickest way- he'd found- to access his spinjitzu. The familiar blues and whites flared up around his feet, swirling into his vision.

But something was off. His spinjitzu swelled, grew, and he fought to keep it under control. He failed. The twister seemed to have a mind of its own, and he was not strong nor skilled enough to rein it in. His body was numb. Everything was too loud, too bright, too strong. He squeezed his eyes shut. _Maybe if I just go with it, it will be over sooner._ With that mentality, Jay stopped fighting. His spinjitzu flashed seconds longer, then it died down.

Jay fell to the ground, groaning. Everything ached; his muscles felt sore like after a workout. He struggled to rise, finding two dead-weights on his back. _What? What are those?_ He craned his neck, wincing as a whole new series of sounds assaulted his ears. _Wait, are those… wings?_

Forgetting everything else, Jay tripped over to the ditch along the road. And then he yelped. O_h no. Oh boy, oh golly, oh gosh. Is that what I think it is? Am I what I think I am?_

The water was muddied, but his shadow was clear in the light of the moon. It was the outline of a dragon.


	3. How to Fly (Or not)

A roar. Startled, Cole jerked back from the muddy footprints. _What was that?_ He scanned the treeline, yet everything appeared the same: trees broken and splintered, deep tracks imprinted in the dirt.

Beside him, Zane rose to his feet. The ice ninja rolled his shoulders. "That was the creature that created this damage."

"Why do you sound so calm about it?" Cole stood up as well. He'd learned not to question the other's intuitions, his predictions often proved correct.

"I sense that it means us no harm."

Another growl filled the air. Cole found it difficult to believe his teammate. "Does that sound like 'no harm' to you?"

Zane shrugged. "Perhaps not." He moved across the trail, away from the wrecked truck, over to the damaged trees. "But we won't know unless we go investigate."

Cole deliberated a moment, nodding. "Alright then. Follow my lead." He skirted along the path, careful not to tread on the tracks.

A loud thud. Cole halted. He waited a few seconds, listening. Another thud, this one closer. Cole dove into the underbrush, motioning for Zane to do the same. Peeking through leaves, he observed a clearing. At first nothing- and then something big and blue fell from the sky and crashed mere meters from Cole. The creature climbed to its feet, and his mouth went dry.

It was a dragon.

It was a dragon!

Cole scrambled back, his heart in his throat. The beast's head snapped towards him. Its golden eyes pierced through the darkness. _ Does it see me? Oh gosh, it totally sees me. We're dead!_

But the dragon didn't come any closer. Instead, it moved back and tilted its head.

Zane rose from his crouch, moving towards the animal. "We mean you no harm," he murmured.

"What are you doing?" Cole was at a standstill. Dare he get up and follow his suicidal teammate? "Get back before it eats you!"

The dragon rolled its eyes. Cole started. _Did it just do what I think it did?_ The gesture seemed so… human. Now it was clawing at the ground, scratching- were those letters?- into the dirt. Curiosity won out. Against his better judgment, he crept out of the foliage.

OH MY GOSH GUYS ITS JAY IM A DRAGON

Cole screamed.

* * *

Jay picked himself off the ground. He stretched out his wings, ignoring the aches shooting through them. _Okay Jay, remember, big flaps. Just do that, and you'll fly._

He pushed off, rising for two wingbeats, before losing control on the third. He crashed back down with a groan.

"The strength of your wings is still not enough to sustain your weight."

Jay rolled his eyes. _Zane, enough with the obvious! Just tell me how to fix it! _

"This is ridiculous. We've been standing here for half an hour! He's a dragon, for crying out loud, he should just be able to fly." Cole's voice trailed off, exasperated.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple. You see, These are his arms-" Zane gestured to Jay's front paws, "and these are his legs. His wings, however, use entirely new muscles."

Jay bobbed his head. _Yeah, Cole. Do I have four arms as a human? No. Then _why_ should I be able to do this as a dragon?_

"Well, maybe we should forget about flying for now and just get to the Fire Temple. We still need to find Kai."

Jay glared at the earth ninja, but Zane nodded. "He raises a valid point." _Well, that doesn't mean I have to like it! _The pair headed back into the forest, so he was obliged to follow.

That didn't mean it was easy. Jay paused to figure out a way to pass between trees. He hugged his wings against his sides and squeezed through the gap, only to be met by another obstacle. _Oh, come on!_

"Cole?" Zane called. "Are you able to clear a path? Jay is experiencing troubles with his enlarged size."

_Hey, it's not my fault the trees and brambles are thicker now!_ Jay sat back on his haunches, scowling.

The earth ninja sighed. "Wait here. I'll call you when I've made a way." He disappeared into the woods. Jay listened as his grumbling faded away.

"I had this idea while watching you." Jay swung around to look at Zane. _ Huh?_ "You are at the level of a fledgling, correct?"

Jay didn't know what that was, but he had a pretty good guess. He nodded.

"Well, most birds begin to practice flight by gliding from branch to branch, high places to lower places. Obviously, you cannot fit on a branch." Jay gave him a dry look. "But the principle still applies. You're trying to lift yourself on your own strength. If we find you a place to glide off, you'll have the wind on your side."

_Duh!_ Jay stopped himself from slapping his face with a wing. _Hey, I am getting better with these things! Ugh, focus Jay. But of course! How could I forget those hours I put into researching my gliders? _

BUT WHATS HIGH ENOUGH

Zane turned, and Jay followed his gaze. The spire of the temple rose above the treetops.

* * *

_Great going, Cole. Now everyone knows _just_ how afraid you are!_

Cole grunted, using his scythe to whack away brambles.

_You're the leader, remember? You've gotta set the example! And what you just did back there! That was not an example! Leaders don't got any fears!_

The gunning of engines. Cole paused. _Where am I? I must have come closer to the road than expected._ The sounds drew nearer. He pushed his thoughts aside and stepped into the shadows. There would be more time later for self-depreciating. Now, he had to focus apron the here-and-now. _Who would be out here, in the middle of nowhere, at this time of night?_

He soon got his answer. A turbo shredder zipped by, meters away from Cole's hiding place. He couldn't get a good look at the drivers, but the make of the vehicle left no doubt as to what they were. _Skeletons! Back again!_

"Go faster! We need to tell Samukai about the dragons, and we can't do that if you're putzing around!"

Cole froze. _Dragons? Like, more than one? More than, well, Jay?_ His gaze flitted back to the forest. _Any number of things could be lurking in there!_ He gulped. _I've gotta hear more._

Cole scaled a tree, following the pair from the branches. He tried to stay close, but only snips of the skeleton's talk reached his ears.

"Red... Temple... Roars... Forest..."

_Ugh, I can't hear them!_ Cole jumped ahead, preparing to ambush the pair. He dropped down from the tree and landed on a skeleton's skull.

"Hey! Watch it!"

"There's a ninja on your head!"

"Ninja go!"

Cole twisted into his signature spinjitzu, knocking one skeleton out of the vehicle. _ Let's keep this one alive for interrogation. _But as he tried to stop, his spinjitzu only grew bigger._ What's going on? _The shredder buckled and groaned beneath his feet. Cole got a sinking feeling in his chest. _Did Jay ever tell us just how he changed? _His spinjitzu faded away, and he fell forward.

_This can't be happening. _

_Oh my gosh this can't be real._

Cole could only stare at his paws. Then a bright light blinded him, and he remembered where he was standing. The vehicle roared through the portal, and it snapped shut behind him.

He was going to the underworld.


	4. White Dragon

**Rivenchu: I'm glad you like this story! I hope you enjoy this new chapter!**

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SO TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE WIND SPEED AND WEATHER CONDITIONS I SHOULD POSITION MY WINGS AT AN ANGLE OF 187 DEGREES PARALLEL TO MY BODY

Jay finished writing, and looked over to Zane. The ice ninja was reading his scribbles, and nodded his approval when he was through.

"Yes," he agreed. "And with the size of your body, I expect you will need to flap them once every ten minutes to glide."

Suddenly, a panicked bellow ripped through the air, and Jay's head shot up. _What was that?_ His golden eyes flickered across the grove, and caught a brief flash of light.

He turned to the white ninja, and found him staring at the place he had been looking at. Zane glanced up at him. "Did you see that?" he questioned.

The dragon nodded. SOMETHING JUST WENT TO THE UNDERWORLD, he scratched.

Zane continued to gaze vacantly at the same spot. Jay rolled his eyes. Suddenly, the ice ninja collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily.

Jay peered at his friend in worry, trying to decide what to do. _Should I try to snap him out of it, or should I do CPR, or, or should I turn and run? _He lowered his head so he could stare the ice ninja in the eye. "What happened?" he crooned softly.

Zane blinked slowly as he adjusted his eyes to the sudden shadow. "I- I just saw Cole transform into a brown dragon. He disappeared on two motorcycles. I don't know how," he said, guessing the meaning of the sound.

Jay knew it was a serious matter, but he couldn't help but laugh. _Cole is a dragon! Of all the creatures, he becomes the only thing he's afraid of!_

Zane backed away slightly. "Are you having digestion problems?" he inquired.

Jay became suddenly aware that his laugh sounded like a choking seal, and quickly stopped. "No," he replied while shaking his head side-to-side rapidly. He let one last chuckle escape his jaws, and quickly assumed a serious expression. WE NEED TO GET KAI

The ice ninja nodded his agreement. "The quickest way to access the fire temple would be flying," he decided.

Jay lowered his wing again so Zane could climb on him, but the human hesitated.

"Any weight, now matter how much, would change the precise measurements and throw you off balance," he began. "Experienced flyers can easily adjust to such changes, but you are not an experienced flyer." He stepped away from Jay. "And so," he concluded, "You should not carry me."

Jay's eyes widened in realization. _He's going to spinjitzu!_ Remembering what happened when he preformed the fighting maneuver, he jumped back clumsily. "Zane!" he bellowed. "We don't know if we can change back!"

"Ninja go!" Zane had already started, and the change was in action.

Jay shielded his eyes as the icy twister sprayed small shards all across the grove. _Interesting_, he mused. When he'd spinjitzued before, he'd seen lightning coursing up and down his arms before they'd transformed into scaly dragon legs. Now, watching from the outside, all he could see was a white blur as Zane's spinning speed accelerated.

The spinjitzu funnel dissipated and a white and blue dragon emerged into his view.

**Line break**

Cole awoke from a bad dream, only to find himself in the midst of a worse one.

In his dreams, he'd transformed into a dragon and everyone was out to kill him. Reality was only a bit worse; he actually was a dragon, and he was imprisoned inside a huge cage in a dank cavern.

Cole tried -with difficulty- to suppress a rising scream. _How am I a dragon? Why am I a dragon?_ He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, as if it would change his current situation. He took deep breaths, and slowly calmed enough to assess himself.

"Ok," he squeaked -a very manly squeak, of course. "So I now have four legs, a head, eyes, nose, teeth -lots of teeth- a tail, and two wings." He gulped down his rising trepidation. A thick chain was fettered to one of his back legs, and it trailed across the bottom of the cave and attacked to a wall.

Cole shakily stood and investigated his surroundings. The cavern he was in was dimly illuminated by a single flickering torch, but with his enhanced vision he hardly needed light. The chamber was almost empty, except for his cage, the torch, and a chair.

"Where am I," he wondered aloud. His mind categorized the scant details he noticed. _Big stone cave. Strange tapping noises._ He shouted, and cringed as a loud, reverberating roar bounced back at him.

The tapping stopped, and a lone, clinking sound started growing louder. Another darker shadow appeared in the doorway, and Cole's analytical mind immediately matched it to a figure. _Skeleton_.

"Quiet in there!" shouted his captor. "You're making enough racket to wake all the dead!" The bony creature paused. "Or are the dead already awake?" He turned around. "Kruncha? Are the dead awake?"

Cole rolled his eyes. "Where am I?" he asked.

The skeleton whirled around. "You almost gave me a heart attack! Be quiet!" Then a look of confusion entered his eyes. "Can I have a heart attack?" With a huff, Cole's guard left his chamber.

As soon as the tapping noises continued -a sound he'd attached to skeleton marching- Cole jumped to his feet -paws? _Dragon or not, I need to get out of here._


	5. Journey to the Underworld

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Kai threw his weight against the temple wall. Although his entire body was sore, the fire ninja refused to give up. "Come on!" he gasped. "Just crumble already!" He stepped backward to examine his work. Dents of all shapes and sizes decorated the stone. Kai growled. _Sensei could be in danger, and I'm stuck here! As a dragon! A flightless dragon, of all things!_

His gaze turned to the gaping crater of the volcano. _Maybe this time... _Using muscles he shouldn't have had, the fire master started flailing his open appendages. The warm updrafts from the magma caught in his wings. Kai enjoyed a very brief second of flight, before the powerful gusts flipped him over. He careened into the lava pit, sending up a colossal spray of molten rock.

"Try to angle your wrist upwards and create a pocket for the air to fill," suggested Nya.

The fire ninja really wasn't paying attention to his younger sister, however. He pushed her out of his mind and focused on the sound of shaky wing beats. _They're here!_ Kai let a grin spread across his face; now that Cole had arrived, the earth ninja could make a plan. For the first time in his life, Kai actually felt relieved that someone else could take charge.

"Kai? Where are you going?" Nya jumped away from the edge as a wave of lava threatened to scorch her.

Kai didn't bother to answer, knowing she wouldn't understand him anyway. Instead, he shook the fiery liquid from his wings and bolted towards the temple entrance. The fire dragon skidded to a stop just before crashing into the stalactites barricading the threshold. _Great_. His mind raced. "Jay!" he bellowed, trying to project his roar beyond the stone walls. "Come on in through the crater! The original entryway's blocked."

The wing beats became quieter for a minute, before two huge shapes blotted out the moonlight. Not that it really mattered, seeing as how lava already illuminated the cavern. Two dragons alighted, one with blue scales, and the other with white. Kai scrutinized the pair. _The big blue one must be Jay,_ he reasoned. _That would make the white one Zane._

"Where's Cole?" asked the former fire ninja, pleased with his quick deductions. He walked around the duo, craning his neck to try and spot the earth ninja.

Jay shook his head. "Umm, well, you see, he kinda transformed into a dragon and disappeared into the Underworld," he blurted.

_Not him too!_ Kai thought in a panic. "We have to save them!"

"How do you suggest we do that?" Jay asked sarcastically. "In case you hadn't noticed, no mortal can cross into the Underworld!"

"Stop worrying," commanded Zane. "You need to calm down so you can think clearly."

"Calm down? Calm down!" the lightning ninja shrieked; Kai could almost see his sanity breaking. "I somehow got turned into a dragon, Sensei and Cole are gone, and you want me to CALM DOWN!"

"Are you done yet?" asked Zane, not at all fazed by the other dragon's outburst.

Jay sucked in a deep breath. "Yes," he said simply, before walking over to brood near the wall.

"What's going on?" asked Nya. She stroked Kai's wing. "Are these the dragons you were talking to earlier?"

"Yeah," Kai growled, twisting his head around to look at her. "Meet my friends, Jay and Zane." _Wait, friends? When did they switch from teammates to friends?_

"Maybe you should scratch your words into the rock," suggested the ice dragon, seeing Nya's puzzled expression.

Kai slapped his wing on his face. "Now why didn't I think of that?" he grumbled. He started to engrave a message on the temple wall.

Nya glanced over the writing, her countenance growing even more baffled. "THESE ARE MY TEAMMATES THEY TURNED INTO DRAGONS AS WELDO YOU LIKE BLUE?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Jay!" Kai growled in warning. "Stop hitting on my sister!" He sent a scowl at the blue dragon, before turning back to the wall. COLE OUR TEAM LEADER WENT TO THE UNDERWORLD AND WE HAVE NO WAY OF GETTING TO HIM.

"I thought dragons could travel there," Nya pointed out. "Do you remember what father used to tell us about them?"

"Your sister is right, now that I think about it. Dragons do not belong to either world, so they are free to travel between them as they please."

"Well what are we waiting for?" Jay sprang up from the floor, flying in haphazard circles above Kai's head.

While the lightning and ice dragons started to debate ways to fly, Kai walked over to his sister.

I WILL COME BACK

Nya read his writing and smiled. "And I'll keep a candle burning in the shop's window until you return. Try not to get killed."

Kai grinned back. "I'll think about it."

The three dragons, having decided on a wing position and formula, took to the sky.

**Line break**

Cole strained against his bonds. The thick chained were pulled taunt, and he could feel their hold on the wall loosening. His legs quivered from the pressure. With a loud crash, the interlocking rings broke free from the stone wall. Cole winced, praying fervently that the skeletons wouldn't hear.

"Ok," he murmured. "Now how do I get out of here?"

**Line break**

"Whoohoo!" Jay whooped. He pumped his wings twice before plunging into a steep nose dive. Everything blurred together like a spinning top, and when he snapped them open several hundred feet above a forest, the sudden pressure pushed him back up towards his friends. "This is amazing!"

Zane, who was gliding beside him, actually seemed to be enjoying himself. "Yes, this is quite fun," he agreed.

"I guess being a dragon isn't that bad," decided Kai. "If this is what it means to be one, then I could definitely get used to it." The fire dragon gingerly stretched his wings a bit wider.

"So how do we cross into the Underworld?" asked Jay. The lightning ninja flapped his wings until he was directly above Kai.

Now that he was very high, away from trees and mountains and temples, Jay found flying to be much easier. The air had shape, and his wings carved through it like a knife does with soft butter. Up in the sky, his dragon instincts took over. He swooped and dove with lightning-quick reflexes, and his eyes could pick out individual blades of grass from hundreds of feet above.

"I'm not sure," confessed the fire ninja. The small group broke out of a cluster of clouds, and a huge open area of land -free from boulders or trees- emerged into Jay's view.

"Just follow my lead!"

The sudden command startled the lightning dragon, and he almost fell from the sky. _Huh?_ Kai folded his wings, and shot away from him. After a split second of hesitation, Jay copied him. The ground rushed towards his head with dizzying speed. He waited for Kai to pull out, but the fire dragon seemed to have other ideas. Instead, he started spinning. _What is he doing?_

Suddenly, Jay realized what was happening. A whirlwind of fire -small, but increasing by the second- swirled around Kai's head, enveloping his body. _Spinjitzu!_

The lightning ninja shifted his wings as his newly-acquired instincts overrode his desire to avoid what appeared to be suicide. He began to spiral downward. His speed accelerated as he neared the ground. Through the haze of blue lightning, Jay saw a colossal black portal open. He had a millisecond to blink in surprise before plunging into the swirling light.


	6. Back to Normal

**XShinkuKikinX: I'm thrilled you like this!**

**JayHawk134: I hope this new chapter lives up to your high regards of this fic!**

**HiroKaiMark: I've always loved dragons -they're my favorite animal! :P**

**Mom: You don't know how much your review means to me.**

When Zane opened his eyes, the first thing he realized was that he was in the Underworld. Immediately afterwards, he noticed -with surprise- that he was no longer a dragon.

The ice ninja stood and flexed his arms. He was in the center of a dome-shaped cave, with stalactites protruding from the ceiling. As he assessed the situation, he heard Kai and Jay waking up.

"Wh-what happened?" Jay asked groggily.

Kai sat bolt upright. "I'm human!" He wiggled his gloved fingers, an expression of glee lighting up his face.

"Yes," confirmed Zane. "It seems that spinjitzu can not only transforms us into dragons, but change us back to human as well."

"I suppose that makes sense," Jay said.

Kai frowned. "So this is the underworld," he stated, spinning in a slow circle to take in the huge cavern.

"Hey, look at this!"

Zane turned to see Jay pulling at the front of his Gi. _A dragon?_ Upon closer inspection, the ice ninja noticed that lightning seemed to be shooting from its mouth.

"We all have it," realized Kai. His was identical to Jay's, except for the lightning, which was replaced by a spray of golden flames.

Zane peered at his own kimono, which displayed a gold dragon with icy breath. "I assume that these suits are results of our new powers."

"Ya think?"

"That's the most logical reason," Zane said.

Even in the dim light, the ice master could see Jay slapping his hand to his face.

Kai sighed. "After we get out of here, I am gonna have to work with you on your humor."

"Don't waste the time or effort," counseled the lightning ninja. "Believe me, I've tried."

"Can we move on to more pressing matters?" asked Zane. _This is becoming very uncomfortable._

"Sensei Wu was here, as well as the Sword of Fire," he informed. _But where is he now? _Zane closed his eyes and focused on honing his senses. "He has since passed on." He cast his gaze around the room, and his quick eyes spotted shards of the elderly teacher's beloved teapot. "Examine this."

Jay picked up a piece of the ceramic and rubbed it between his fingers. "Can you sense where he is?"

Zane shook his head ruefully. "I'm afraid I am unable to do that."

"Hey look! Over here!" Kai stood several steps outside of the cave's mouth. He was bent over, pointing at something.

The ice ninja hurried to stand next to the fire master. Several shallow indents were barely visible in the thin layer of dust that covered the ground. They led away from the cavern and towards the left.

"Excellent find, Kai."

"Are those Sensei's?" Jay wondered aloud.

Zane knelt and scrutinized the footprints. "There is a strong chance of 73% that these are his," he agreed. "Shall we follow them?"

He turned in time to see Jay and Kai shrug at each other.

"May as well," the fire ninja decided.

Zane nodded once. "Very well," he said. The ice ninja stood and crept down the shelf of rock, the other two ninja right behind him. _I hope I am not leading us to our deaths._

**_Line break_**

Cole ducked into a cave as a squad of skeletons marched past. He glanced around and took the room in, adding it to his mental map of the Underworld.

Once they had passed, the earth dragon slunk back into the main corridor. He was about to continue his journey, when something caught his eye. _Four sets of footprints?_ He stooped down clumsily. Three of them were fresh, while the last was fainter. He quickly ruled out skeletons -they only traveled in legions. Directly to the left of the trail, a chunk of something smooth lay on the ground. Cole crawled over and sniffed the piece; a flavorful scent of herbs wafted up and overwhelmed his senses. _This has got to be Sensei's teapot!_

The earth dragon backed away and examined the footprints once more. _Would that make the other ones... Jay, Kai, and Zane? But how would they have changed back?_ Cole shook his head. He ran multiple scenarios through his head. _Out of all the possibilities, that one seems most likely... _With his mind made up, he stood and followed the trail.

_**Line break**_

A low growl stopped Kai dead in his tracks. He glanced over at the others, who had also frozen.

"What was that?" Jay asked, being the first one to find his voice. He raked the colossal cavern they were passing through with his eyes. "Is anyone there?" he demanded boldly, but Kai caught a slight quiver of worry in the question.

Another growl shook the walls of the room, but this time it sounded excited. Kai jumped backwards as a large form barreled into the cave. Using the light emitted from lava pits outside, he quickly identified the creature. _A dragon!_

"It's Cole!" he shouted, seeing Jay and Zane in fighting stances.

The ice ninja visibly relaxed. "Hello Cole," he greeted.

The dragon rolled its golden eyes and bellowed loudly.

"Woah! Keep it down," hissed Jay. "This place is crawling with skeletons!"

Cole didn't look very happy, but he warbled something Kai could only guess to be an apology. He was more disappointed that he couldn't understand what the earth ninja was saying.

"Hey, scratch your message onto something." He waved vaguely around the cave.

Cole's gaze trailed after his hand, before he walked over to the entryway and began to carve words into the floor.

"So, how've you been?" Jay asked, trying to make smalltalk, and failing miserably.

Cole paused a moment to turn and sigh at the lightning ninja. Kai cracked a smile; the action reminded him of the human version of Cole. That sent him off onto a entirely new thought train. _Do we even qualify as humans now? What are we?_

Cole stepped back from his work, and Zane scanned over the writing.

"The procedure of changing back into a human is fairly simple," he said. "You are going to fly up and dive towards the ground, spinning."

"Wait a minute," called Jay, who had been reading over Zane's shoulder. "That's how we turned back, but it's also how we traveled to the underworld. If Cole did that now, would he be sent to another place? Is there a deeper Underworld?"

"The Underworld is composed of many different layers," said Zane, and Kai had a gnawing feeling that the ice ninja was speaking from personal experience. "Thank you for noticing that error in my logic. I now see the problem."

"The skeletons have to be going really fast to get here," Kai pointed out. "And we were spinning pretty quickly back there. But when they were just driving around, a random portal didn't just open up and swallow them."

"So you're saying that he should do what we did, only slower?"

"It's worth a try."

Zane, who had been watching passively, decided to step in. "I sense that would work," he announced.

Cole unfurled his wings and shifted his weight back and forth. Jay and Zane began to instruct him, unleashing a torrent of complicated words that Kai didn't even know existed.

"Cole, all you're gonna have to do is spread your wings out and up, and then flap." The earth dragon shot Kai a grateful look, and hesitantly brought his wings into the described position.

Kai hurried backward as Cole started pumping. After several strong beats he was in the air. The brown dragon slowly ascended, until he was near the roof of the cave.

"Now dive and spin!" instructed Jay.

Cole's wings collapsed to his sides, and he fell. Kai panicked when it appeared nothing was happening, but then he noticed a small spinjitzu tornado circling the earth ninja's body. The whirlwind of brown swelled, dwindled rapidly, and a black-clothed human fell from the disappearing twister. The man stood up shakily. The red light reflected off his kimono, revealing a golden dragon woven into the fabric.

"Cole! You okay?" Jay rushed forward and grabbed his friend's right arm. Kai copied his actions, and together they led him over to lean against the wall.

Cole rolled his eyes. "Of course I'm okay," he grumbled. "Have you found him yet?"

Kai didn't need to be a genius to figure out who he was talking about. _Trust Cole to be only concerned about Sensei, immediately after turning into a dragon and back. _Nevertheless, he was thrilled to see the black ninja looking and acting like himself.

"Unfortunately, we have been unsuccessful in our attempts to locate him," informed Zane, coming to stand before them. "It's good to see you again, brother."

"Right back at you," the earth ninja replied, smiling up at his fellow teammate. He pushed Jay and Kai off him, and jumped to his feet. "Let's go and get back our Weapons and Sensei!"


	7. Ultra Dragon

**KaiRulesSuckers: Thank you!**

**JayHawk134: This is the last pilot one! I'm glad you enjoyed the previous chapter!**

**Pinkie Pie luvs Ninjago: Thank you for taking the time to read this! I'm glad you liked that part.**

**Pinkie Pie luvs Ninjago (2): Here's another!**

**This chapter concludes the pilots! I hope you all enjoyed it!**

Jay glanced over the map Cole had carved into the floor. It displayed the many intertwining tunnels of the Underworld, along with the suspended chunks of stone that surrounded Lord Garmadon's fortress. _Wow! This is amazing! How did he learn all this? Did Sensei teach this stuff to him before I started my training?_

"This is where we are," the earth ninja announced, jabbing at a section with his finger. "We followed Sensei from this cave." He indicated the mentioned area. "Judging by the direction of the footprints we've found, he's headed for Garmadon's lair." Cole frowned at the layout. "It's not gonna be easy." He pointed at the squiggles representing skeletons, which were littered all across the diagram.

"Why? All we have to do is get past the guards and into his fortress," Jay said. "If Sensei can do it, then we shouldn't have a problem!"

"He had good fortune," Zane explained. "Sensei arrived here before the skeletons were alerted of our presence. Now the majority of these tunnels are barricaded by them. It is going to be difficult to sneak past and enter the citadel."

"Well we are ninja," Kai interjected. "That's what we were trained for, right?"

"Right," Cole agreed. "Now I've mapped out almost all of this level of the Underworld. We can use this to plan a route."

"How 'bout we use the stalactites?" suggested Jay. "We can swing across the ceiling and drop right into the fortress!"

Cole looked up at the lightning ninja. "That just might work," he said slowly. "I can think of a few problems, but they are unlikely to actually happen. What about you, Zane?"

"I can see no better option," the white ninja answered. "It has a 54% chance of favorable outcome."

"What about the other 46%?" asked Kai nervously. "We can't foul this up. It very well might be our only chance of reclaiming our weapons and finding Sensei!"

"We won't foul it up," Cole vowed. "I agree with Zane and Jay. This is our best option."

**_Line break_**

Kai released his hold on the spider's leg faster than a flame consuming paper. _Why did I ever agree with this plan?_ The red ninja tumbled to the ground, managing to summersault to his feet.

"NINJA!" a skeleton shrieked, and all eyes were instantly on the small group.

"I count ten of them to each one of us," Cole briefed. "I think I like these odds!"

Before the last word left his lips, the air suddenly was teeming with spiders of all sizes. They dropped to the floor and scurried over to join forces with the skeletons.

"Well I don't," retorted Kai. He sprung apart from the band and kicked his nearest enemy. The fire ninja wrestled the sword from its bony hands, and flipped back to the others.

"Great thinking Kai," praised Cole.

Kai couldn't help the small smirk creeping across his face; praise from the earth ninja was very rare indeed. Zane pulled a pair of shuriken out of his robes and proceeded to secure another weapon. Kai had no idea on how he kept the throwing stars during his transformation -let alone made them vanish and reappear on a normal training day- but he knew not to press the issue.

With a weapon in his grasp, Kai felt slightly more empowered. He swung and sliced at the advancing army. For several minutes, it seemed the odds were in their favor. But after several waves, it became painfully apparent to him that they were fighting a losing battle. It seemed that for every spider he killed, three more immediately took its place.

"Any ideas?" he called out, pressing up against the others. "I'm all ears!"

"We can do the Tornado of Creation!" shouted Jay. He paused in his fighting to face the fire ninja. "Sensei Wu said it was the most powerful fighting move!"

"Tornado of Creation?" questioned Zane. "Sensei also warned that it could lead to disastrous consequences!"

"Yeah, not to mention our little problem with spinjitzu right now," Cole reminded him dryly.

"Do you have any better idea?" Kai shot back. "Look, maybe it was a one-time thing," he added.

The black ninja's face was dubious. "I don't like this..." he said. "But I have to agree with you. It's the only way out of this mess."

"Then let's do this!" shouted Kai. "Fire!"

He held up his sword and started spinning. Faintly, he heard the other three ninja yell out their element. Kai directed his spinjitzu towards them. They combined together, and the whirlwind swelled in size. _It's okay, this is probably perfectly normal... It probably happens every time all four elements are mixed... _Then he felt his body go numb.

Kai tried to pull apart from the colossal twister, but it was too late. Red flashed in his vision, and the spinjitzu surrounding him was a mixture of his own fire, Jay's lightning, Cole's earth, and Zane's ice. _What's gonna happen to us?_ He was suddenly overwhelmed by nausea. Just like the previous time, the ginormous twister died down after an approximate half minute. Only this time, he wasn't greeted by the sight of scarlet wings or golden claws.

_**Line break**_

Zane stared at the black claws beneath him. _This does not compute! First I am magically turned into a legendary beast that shouldn't even exist. Then I am transformed back into a human. And now I am somehow a dragon again, only this time it's a different type!_ The ice ninja breathed deeply. _I need to calm down and assess this situation with a clear mind._

Zane twisted his head around to examine the rest of him. He wasn't prepared for the sight that greeted his eyes. Three other dragon heads -white in color with red, brown, and yellow markings- were right next to him.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" shrieked the yellow head. It took Zane a second to realize that the other dragon hadn't actually spoken aloud. _What is the meaning of this?_

"Darn it Kai. I should have never listened to you," grumbled the brown one. Again, Zane heard his voice in his mind, but not through his ears.

"Um, guys?" This time, the voice came from outside his thoughts and sounded distinctly like the fire ninja.

Zane swung his head around, and noticed two other heads doing the same. He pinpointed the origins of the growl to the red dragon beside him.

The speaker started talking again, and Zane was made positive that it was Kai. "I think we kinda combined into one dragon," he announced sheepishly.

"WHAT?" bellowed the yellow head. "But- but how? I mean, sure, we spinjitzued into a giant twister, and we turn into dragons when we spinjitzu..." He trailed off, and Zane sensed that the dragon was starting to realize what had happened.

"Oh just great," snarled the brown dragon. "So you're saying that you're Kai," he rumbled, inclining his head to the left. "And you're Jay," he continued, looking over at Zane.

"No, I'm over here," informed the yellow head. He glanced over at the ice ninja, and Zane could have sworn he was pouting. "Frosty stole my blue," he whined.

A sharp nip startled Zane, and he caught sight of a spider biting his hind leg. He quickly kicked it away, but he could see several more approaching. "It seems that the spiders have worked up the courage to continue this fight," he notified. "It won't be long before the skeletons regroup as well."

"I'll take care of it," Cole growled. Suddenly, Zane felt his tail moving. It swung outward and swept the group of arachnids into the lava. The earth ninja reared them backward onto two claws and used the front ones to bat away the skeletons.

"That's good enough, Cole!" shouted Kai.

Zane cast his gaze around, pleased to note that all the skeletons were either knocked out or fleeing for their lives. The remaining spiders scuttled up the walls, returning to the ceiling where they were safe.

Cole lowered them to the ground, and opened up the broad wings connected to Zane's back. "Let's get out of this body," he said.

After several strong pumps, Zane felt his claws leave the ground. He rose up into the air, until his wing tips brushed against the top of the cavern. Cole folded the wings and plunged into a dive. As he drew closer to the rocky platform, the huge dragon began spinning. The tornado surrounded the whole body, before splitting into four smaller spinjitzu twisters.

The ice ninja stood and brushed himself off. _Is this going to happen every time we spinjitzu?_ He surveyed the battleground, taking in the deep ruts his claws had left, the bones scattered across the floor, and the spider legs that had been hewn from their bodies.

"That was AMAZING!" cheered Jay. He walked over to the earth ninja and patted his back. "You're an awesome fighter!"

"Thanks Jay," Cole acknowledged. He bent down and picked up a discarded scythe. "But now's not the time for congratulations. We need to find Sensei and those golden weapons before Garmadon does."

Kai and Jay followed the black ninja's example, and Zane slipped a pair of shuriken into his hands. The ice ninja allowed a smile to grace his lips. As strange as the entire dragon-affair was, he was somehow coming to terms with it. The advantages outweighed the disadvantages. He caught his leader's eye and spun back into a dragon.

Cole groaned, but complied. "I guess being a dragon really isn't that bad," he admitted grudgingly.

Several minutes later, all four boys were dragons once again. The team turned and grinned at each other.

You ready?" asked the earth dragon.

The other three bobbed their heads.

"Let's do the whip!" roared Kai.

They raised their wings, and as one shouted "Ninja go!"


	8. Flight of the Dragon Ninja

**JayHawk134: Thank you!**

**This chapter covers the mini-movie "Flight of the Dragon Ninja" and it's the only mini-movie I'm doing. **

"Why must we go through this again? I'm clearly the best!" Jay flipped up onto the small golden statue which stood in the center of the courtyard and struck a pose. "I mean, look at me!" The lightning ninja spinjitzued into a dragon and grinned down at the others.

"Impressive Thundercracker," Kai agreed. He transformed as well; Cole followed his lead. "But may I remind you that we all can change into dragons?" The fire ninja flapped his wings awkwardly in small, walled space and flew up to be eye-level with the blue dragon. "So what's your point?"

"Well I-"

Cole sighed, effectively cutting the lightning ninja off. "Jay's only point is that he won last time, and so obviously he thinks he'll hold the title of Dragon Master forever." He angled his wings and shot up into the sky. "I'll be waiting!" he shouted, before disappearing from Jay's sight.

The lightning dragon scowled at him as he left. His tail tip twitched, before he spread his massive wings and hovered above the two remaining ninja. "Are you guys coming?"

"This is highly irrational," protested Zane, the only one still in his human form. It was clear to Jay that the ice ninja didn't approve of their plan, but he followed the other three on foot through the gate. Outside, he changed as well. "We should be training for when Lord Garmadon returns! If Sensei finds out-"

"Well, technically flying is kinda training, right?" Kai interrupted. "We don't want to like, crash into a tree or something because we didn't know how to steer. And besides, Lord Garmadon only escaped through that portal what, a few weeks ago? It's gonna take him a lot more time than that to get back," he reasoned.

**_Line break_**

"So we all agree. Whoever wins this one will be the new dragon master for a month." Cole pumped his wings against the strong gusts so he wouldn't be blown away. "Ready?" He glanced around at the other three dragons.

"Ninja go!" he shouted, signaling the start.

Zane broke away from the group and veered to the left. Kai immediately shot after him, and the two split apart from Cole. "May the best ninja win!" the white dragon shouted, before he was out of hearing range.

The earth dragon quickly ran a few plans through his head, before diving towards the ground. _Jay is fast, but he's also the biggest. If I can get him into the trees, he'll be caught for sure._ Just as he'd predicted, the blue dragon folded his wings after a second's hesitation and pursued him.

Cole's wingtips got caught in the wind, snapping them open sooner than he'd planned. "Woah!" he bellowed, narrowly missing a collision with a thick tree trunk. _I really need to practice flight maneuvers more._ He threw himself backwards and let the wind slow him down.

The lightning dragon passed by him in a blur of color. He glanced backward to gloat, and almost slammed into another tree. Jay leaned his upper body back and dug his smallest set of claws into the bark. He swung himself back into the open sky, whooping loudly.

The brown dragon flapped powerfully several times. He swerved around the tree and chased after the lightning ninja. Unhindered by branches and leaves in the higher altitude, the velocity of the wind was incredibly strong. It caught Cole by surprise. He spun out of control; his wings flailed uselessly. _What do I do?_ The earth master rapidly formed a mental picture of his problem. He forced his wings to stretch out straight, and the gusts flipped him right-side-up. _Yeah! _He swooped towards the clouds and leveled out before colliding with a mountain peak.

As the black ninja slid up in between Jay and Kai, he focused on a set of muscles in his chest. Cole had found out about them several days earlier, and after almost suffocating himself, he'd figured out what they were for. _Everything is ready._

The Monastery was in sight. _Time to put Operation Sandstorm into effect._ "Sorry guys!" he bellowed, before unleashing his remaining reserved energy. He pulled ahead by several wingspans. The earth dragon twisted around with lightning speed and sprayed a wide cyclone of dust from his mouth. "Eat my dust!" The brown mist rapidly solidified into boulders, which sped towards the other three dragons. They shouted out in alarm and contorted into awkward shapes in order to dodge the hurling rocks. _It worked!_

Elated by his success, Cole pumped his wings and glided towards the towering mountain.

**_Line break_**

"What the heck Cole!"

Kai spun clear of the last rock and chased furiously after the brown dragon. _How did he do that?_ He quickly covered the remaining air and spinjitzued towards the ground.

He landed a second after Jay, feeling angry yet awed.

"Cole, what did you do?" asked Zane. "That was extremely dangerous," he chided. "You could have seriously injured one of us!"

The earth ninja beamed and puffed out his chest slightly. "Like it? I figured it out several days ago!"

"That's so awesome!" Jay gushed, ignoring the stern looks Zane was sending his way. "You can breathe rocks!"

"Yeah, I'll show you how to do it later," Cole promised.

"Nice run bro," Kai admitted grudgingly. "But we'll get you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow! But we agreed the winner would be Dragon Master for a month!"

Kai glanced over at the other two to see which side they'd take. To his delight, Jay shrugged his shoulders and grinned impishly at the black ninja.

"I don't recall agreeing to that," added Zane.

"Oh fine," grumbled the black ninja, folding his arms and looking away from the cheeky grins he was being given. Kai knew he really wasn't upset. "We'll race again tomorrow."

"But first you've got to show us how to shoot stuff," Jay demanded.

"Okay," Cole consented. The four ninja walked back into the Monastery, where the earth ninja activated the training course.

"One at a time," he instructed. "Otherwise we won't all fit. Zane, you first."

The ice ninja quickly transformed into his dragon form and awaited more directions.

"Now focus on your chest. Do you feel that set of muscles that are clenched?"

Zane closed his eyes for several seconds before bobbing his head.

"Good. Now try to unclench them."

Kai saw the tiniest bit of movement in the white dragon's chest.

"Don't keep them like that for too long; they'll cut off your breathing."

Kai watched as Zane's chest shifted back and the earth ninja nodded his approval. "When you feel ready, just unclench them, aim for that golden statue, and spit."

Zane turned around to face the statue. He stood still for a half-minute, with only his chest and eyes moving. Then, without warning, he threw his head back and encased the metal dragon in ice.

Kai gaped. _Is it really that simple?_ The ice dragon flapped his wings and spinjitzued back into a human. His expression was one of pure elate.

"Good job," praised Cole. "That was amazing aim!" He slapped Zane on the back, before turning to the fire ninja.

"You can try next," he said.

Kai spun into a dragon and walked over to the statue. Now that Cole mentioned it, he could feel a set of muscles. He honed his mind on moving them. With a strange feeling his body re-adjusted itself, and, just as the black ninja had predicted, his breathing was cut off.

The fire dragon swung his head around and aimed his shot at the frozen statue. Flames poured from his open mouth, going slightly off target. But Kai really didn't care about his aim. He was too giddy._ I just breathed fire!_

He flew up into the open air and released a halo of flames around him. _I'm breathing fire! _The red dragon spun towards the ground and landed as a human. He couldn't stop grinning like a madman.

"That was awesome! Garmadon won't stand a chance!"

**Please review!**


	9. Meeting Lloyd

**Yuna53421: Thank you! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**JayHawk134: Thank you for being a faithful reviewer!**

**I really appreciate all your comments, questions, and kind words!**

The clouds parted and scattered as four immense dragons glided through the sky.

Jay whooped as he dove at the fire dragon before pulling out of the near collision. "This never gets old!" He leveled out and soared higher. "Are you guys looking forward to fighting Lord Garmadon?" he asked.

"Totally!" Cole bellowed. "I can't wait to pelt him with my boulders!"

"And I am interested to see how much we've improved," added Zane.

They flew in silence for a few more minutes. Jay kept practicing his dives, much to the annoyance of the others.

"I think I see Jamanikai Village," Zane announced.

Jay tore his gaze away from the relaxing clouds and sky and peered downwards. Sure enough, the little town was emerging into his view.

"Wanna race?" Kai shouted.

"What if people see us?" Zane reminded.

Jay frowned at the ice dragon's words. The four had come to an agreement some time before. They'd decided that they would keep their dragon powers secret. Apparently, people used to hunt dragons as a sport. Maybe this generation had forgotten about the practice, but it was better safe than sorry.

"Let's land down there," he said. The blue dragon used his head to indicate a large snow drift located at the base of the mountain. _If we land there, we'll be able to get to the village quickly, but they won't see us change_.

"Ok then," Cole agreed. "First ninja there wins!" With a powerful flap, the earth ninja was off.

Jay snapped his wings shut to dive. Wind rushed past his head, making a sound not unlike a roaring river. Zane appeared at his side, and he opened his wings for several seconds to push the smaller dragon off course. The ice ninja vanished from his view in a flurry of flapping wings. Satisfied in his work, Jay turned his gaze back to his flight path and let out an undignified squawk. The cold white mound was almost upon him!

Jay barely had enough time to start spinning before he smashed into the heap of snow. The lightning ninja popped back to his feet -_thank goodness I'm human_\- with the golden nun-chuks in his hand.

"I was first!" Kai declared loudly. He brandished his sword as Cole argued that "My feet were down before yours!"

"No one was faster than me!" Jay protested. _I'm the lightning dragon! I can't be beaten!_

"You were all disillusioned! I was clearly the winner," Zane added, spinning his shuriken.

A loud cry startled Jay, and he spun to find the source.

"He really is here!" Kai exclaimed.

The red-clothed ninja attached the sword to his back and began to scale the rocks. All arguments were forgotten for the moment. Cole was after him in a flash. _Looks like all that rock climbing paid off_, Jay mused. _Hmm, maybe I should- Focus Jay!_ He hurled himself at the cliff and pushed the scattered thoughts to the back of his mind.

The lightning ninja flipped to the top and slipped the nun-chuks into his hands. The shouts had ceased, and the panicked noises had been replaced by a low chuckle. He sprinted into the center of the village and froze. _Now that is a big shadow!_

"Whatever you do, don't let your guard down," Kai said from beside him.

Jay fought the urge to dash away as the cackling grew louder. Unexpectedly, a short man stepped out from behind a large fountain and the cruel laughter faded away. _Wait a minute, did Garmadon shrink?_

"It is I, Lloyd Garmadon!" the man announced. _Well, not really a man_, Jay realized. _He looks and sounds like a boy_. The black-hooded child jumped up onto the fountain's edge. "And I demand all the candy in town, or else!"

"Lloyd Garmadon?" the lightning ninja asked in disbelief. _Who does this kid think he is?_ "I thought we were gonna be fighting Lord Garmadon!"

Cole lowered his weapon. "It's his son," he explained. "And it looks like he escaped from his boarding school for bad boys again. He strapped the golden scythe to his back. "And to think we could have been showing of our new powers!"

Lloyd cracked open a can of rubber snakes, which flew all over the clearing. Jay rolled his eyes as the fire ninja stooped to pick up one of the toys. "He's gonna have to do a lot better than use an old bedtime story to scare people," Kai said.

The blue ninja spared a glance at the boy, who was now hollering about his hatred for vegetables. _Are we sure that that's the spawn of the most evil man in Ninjago?_

"The serpentine are real Kai," Zane chided. They are not something to joke about."

"Serpentine?" The red ninja raised a eyebrow in skepticism. "Real? We're talking about the ancient race of snake-people-"

"Sneople," Jay interjected.

"...Who once ruled Ninjago, and were supposedly locked underground?"

Jay shuddered. "They were sealed in five different tombs to separate the warring tribes, in order to ensure they won't unify and exact their revenge upon those who put them there!"

"Don't you think it's a little suspicious that nobody has ever found one?" countered Kai.

"You'd have to be an idiot to go looking for one," Cole retorted. Jay wanted to continue the debate, but he could tell that the earth ninja had just closed toe conversation. With a sigh, he pushed the argument out of his head and helped the other three in punishing the kid.

**Line break**

"What's that?"

"I dunno, I don't remember putting it there."

Zane turned his head to see what the other two were discussing. Jay was peering at a scroll, which seemed to have fallen from one of Kai's multiple bags. After a training mission, when they'd forgotten to bring supplies, Cole had suggested attaching sacks to their dragon counterparts. The packs disappeared while they were human, so they often forgot to unload them.

Kai spinjitzued back into a human and unrolled the parchment. He scanned the paper for several moments. "I can't read it," he informed. "It's written in chicken scratch!"

Zane changed back as well and plucked the scroll from the fire ninja's hands. "It's written in the ancient language of our ancestors, you mean."

"Can you translate it?"

_Well that means one, and the symbol here means defeat, and this word here is become... _"It seems to be a prophecy," he stated aloud. "One ninja will become the green ninja, who will defeat the dark lord."

"Oh look," Jay commented over his shoulder. "A picture!"

"Wait a second, dark lord? As in Lord Garmadon?"

"I think that's us! Is anyone thinking what I'm thinking?" Kai questioned.

Jay grinned. "Like how awesome I'll look in green?"

"Isn't it obvious that _I'm_ the green ninja?" Kai shot back.

"Technically, I am the best," Zane argued.

"Guys, stop." Cole, who hadn't changed yet, decided to step in. "Remember why Sensei brought us together in the first place: we're a team. We weren't meant to see this. Let's get going. We need to train, and try and find out why we change."

Zane surrendered the parchment back to Kai, and changed into his dragon form. "I could use some more exercise," he agreed, recalling how easy it had been for Jay to knock him off course. _Sometimes I really dislike being the smallest._ The ice dragon spread his wings and pushed off the ground.


	10. Green Ninja

**Yuna53421: Thanks for the great review! And the doughnut! *munches hungrily* **

**JayHawk134: You've been a faithful reviewer this whole story, and I'm immensely grateful for your wonderful support.**

**_ This is a really short chapter, but the next one will be longer._**

Alright. First up: Kai versus Jay."

Jay bowed to the fire ninja, shifted into a fighting stance, and waited for the signal.

"Ninja go!"

Jay dodged Kai's charge and darted behind him. The nun-chuks pulsed in his hands, and he swung them experimentally. Lightning coursed through the metal and ran up and down his body. _Mental note: never do that again. _ The fire ninja flipped over his head, and he parried several blows from the Sword of Fire. Kai threw several more cuts at him, but Jay dodged them all. He landed a few feet from him and changed into his dragon form.

The blue dragon swung his powerful tail around, trying to knock over the fire ninja. When that failed, he turned around and aimed lightning at him. Kai spinjitzued behind him and the two dragons flailed their wings around.

With a great flap, Kai sprung into the sky. Jay growled. _He knows I'm not good at that!_ Nevertheless, he pumped his wings as hard as he could and clumsily gained altitude. Although his wings were large, the muscles he needed to fly with were weak from disuse. They were an entirely new set of muscles, after all, not like Kai and Zane who's arms became wings!

"Looking for me?"

Jay had just enough time to turn his eyes upward before Kai came crashing down with his full weight. He struggled to remain in the air, but it was a futile attempt. Both dragons came crashing back down into the training court.

**LB**

Lloyd shivered. Apparently, wandering through a snowy area with just a cape for warmth wasn't a very smart idea. At all. He pulled the thread-bare fabric tightly around him. _Curse those ninja! Just when I was beginning to be feared, they had to show up and ruin everything! _He kicked a pebble.

All his life, Lloyd had been different. And he knew it. To start with, there was the fact that he was the son of Lord Garmadon -the evilest person in Ninjago. Most of the kids at his school pretended to be his friends, but he knew they only did it to get close to his father. Except his father had never visited. Not once since he started attending the school.

In addition, his teachers had pulled him aside one day. They proceeded to tell him he wasn't bad enough! In order to stay at the school, they said, he'd have to prove himself an evil mastermind. Lloyd had felt like crying. He would have, but bad boys didn't cry. His expulsion was only a week later.

And finally there was his... Condition. In the beginning, he shrugged it off as a spiteful curse from some of the older boys. They were known to do that, after all. But then it started developing. It showed itself when he was scared, upset, or angry. He'd been lucky so far. Since he left the school, nothing had triggered him. Yet. He knew it was bound to occur. Imagine if it happened back at the village. What would they do if they found out he was some sort of dregon freak?

The pebble struck something metal. Lloyd was immediately brought back to the present. _What was that?_ He flung another pebble. A second loud ringing sound followed. Lloyd hesitated. _There's definitely something there. But what if it's dangerous? _His adventurous nature quickly won out.

Cautiously, he moved forward. There seemed to be a stone slab covered by the snow. He began to try and clear it, but upon glancing up, stopped. _A lever? What's that doing here? _He reached up and tugged it. _No use caring about the consequences, _he figured. _If I die, I won't be missed. _There was a loud grinding sound, and the ground in front of him split open. Lloyd watched, amazed. Green fumes swirled out of the crack. He was too caught up in his surroundings to notice the shifting stone beneath him. One second he was standing on the edge, the next he was tumbling through the dark hole.

Lloyd smashed into something hard and cold. It took him a moment to stand, and another to realize what the entire chamber was created from. Ice. Enormous spikes jutted from the ground. Strong pillars dotted the underground fortress. Even the floor was completely ice!

"You are out of your mind to venture ssso far away from home, little one."

Lloyd spun on his heels. Two glowing red eyes stared at him from the shadows. As he watched, terrified, the area around the eyes slowly changed until a massive snake was slithering towards him. Its tail made no sound on the ice. It bore a staff of gold in its hands.

Escaping was the only thing on Lloyd's mind. He backed away. The snake noticed his action and laughed.

"Look into my eyessssss." It commanded. "Give up your mind."

Red seemed to take over Lloyd's vision. The spiraling pattern of the serpent's eyes invaded his head. Why was he trying to resist? All he needed to do was relax, and everything would work out fine.

"I will control you."

The simple sentence woke something inside him. Lloyd stood up straighter. "No, you won't!" he shouted. Then, without fully knowing why, he ducked.

The serpent began to sway. It relaxed its grip on the staff. In fact, it seemed to relax completely. Lloyd had a inkling as to what occurred. He glanced into the ice behind him. The last traces of green were disappearing from his back, confirming his suspicions.

"No. I will control you from now on!"


	11. Invasion of Jamanikai Village

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Nya strolled through the marketplace, pausing to peek at various items. The busy hum and bustle had waned into a trickle of patrons, so the majority of the shops were preparing to close. She paused at a stand laden with vegetables. _Hmm, maybe I should get some for dinner tonight._

Frightened screams tore her attention from the produce. _What now? _Nya turned on her heels. Villagers darted into their houses, as in an eery redux of the morning's events. She frowned. _What's going on?_

Her questions were presently answered. A young voice shouted, "Take the candy!" Nya couldn't pinpoint the speaker, but he sounded close. She decided to take a gamble and risk being seen. Cautiously, she crept away from the produce.

"Take it all!"

Nya paired the voice with a boy clothed in black. _Lloyd Garmadon? _she guessed._ I thought they got rid of him!_ She was about to return to her shopping, when a rattling noise halted her. Two colossal snakes with teal scales slithered from the shadows. Gray humanoid serpents slunk into the streets. The one with a tail focused on a cluster of people, and Nya gasped when their eyes glazed over. _Serpentine!_ she realized with horror. She ducked behind a crate.

The serpentine wrecked the village. Shops were pillaged, carts were overturned, and candy was heaped into the boy's wheelbarrow. A hypnotized man stumbled past Nya's hiding place, and she recoiled. Voices came close to her location. She flattened herself against the rough wood.

"Thissss makessss no sensssse, General!" Ah. So the serpentine had ranks. "Raiding an entire town, for sweets!"

It was a fair point, and Nya found herself sympathizing with the snake. _Why are they doing this?_ The general, however, was not in the mood for insubordination. "You will do what I command!" he snapped. "Because I hold the staff!"

Nya noticed too late that the speakers were advancing towards her.

"Well, what do we have here?" hissed the one with legs. He moved towards the girl, cornering her against a building. She could hear a rattling sound, and a part of her mind recognized it as the general's tail. "Look into my eyesssssss," he ordered.

The swirling red patterns swam before Nya's eyes. She knew in her head to look away, but she couldn't tear her gaze from the entrancing spirals. Her eyelids grew heavy, and she fought to keep them open. _So pretty..._

From out of nowhere, a sizable mass of snow fell onto the snake's head. He yelped. He stumbled backwards. He used his scaly arms to wipe snow from his hood and eyes. Nya blinked. Now that the serpentine was no longer focusing on her, the spell's effects had broken and she bore only a mild headache as proof of the hypnotizing attempt. _Where did that snow come from?_ She glanced back at her attacker, who was still slightly disoriented. _No matter. I shouldn't stay to find out._

**_LB_**

Lloyd giggled, his hoard of sweets growing larger by each passing minute. He carted his treasures through the town. Although some buildings didn't keep candy, the majority contained at least one sort of the stuff. Each time a house was pillaged, a serpent would come out with his arms laden with treasures. He glanced around at the wrecked village. _Dad will have to notice me now! I'll become the most evilest overlord ever!_

_I'm unstoppable! _the child thought in glee. He fumbled for another lollipop -his seventeenth, but who was counting?- and popped it into his mouth. "I'm never coming down from this sugar high!"

Without warning, four bright figures dropped from the sky. Lloyd almost squealed, but noises like that weren't befitting of an evil overlord. _Where do they come from? It's always from up!_

"Sorry to bust your buzz, little Garmadon," the black one announced.

"But it's already past your bedtime," the blue one finished in a taunting manner.

Lloyd glared at his tormentors. _Why are some people so mean? When I'm the evil lord, they'll be the first ones to be banished!_ "You call yourselves ninja?" he retaliated. "What, are you trying to blend into that tomato?" Without pausing, he launched into his next order. "Seize them!"

_**LB**_

Cole about had a heart attack_. No no, this can't be happening. They're not real!_

"The serpentine? They're real?" Kai shouted.

A slow nod. _You need to stay calm. Everyone's relying on you! _"It looks that way."

"Serpentine," Kai repeated. He shook his head. "Real. And a threat!"

"And it's not just them we need to worry about," the earth ninja realized. With a sick feeling in his gut, he turned around. Men and women staggered towards them, under the influence of the snakes. He fought the urge to hurl. _No, you have to stay strong! _"The entire village is hypnotized!"

Jay unhooked his nun-chuks and started to charge up a blast of electricity. He was quickly stopped.

"The weapons are too unstable," Zane explained. "We could cause more harm than good."

The nun-chuks reluctantly went back to their resting position. "If we can't use our weapons, then what can we do?"

"Spinjitzu?" suggested Kai.

Cole dismissed the thought with a shake of his head. "No, we can't. What if they think we're evil?"

Kai cocked an eyebrow. "For turning into dragons to fight snakes?"

"You never know!" Cole persisted. _You're getting worked up... _"Dragons have been extinct for ages! For all we know, they could think we're necromancers!"

"So I guess that leaves us with RUN!"

Cole sprinted through a gap between two women. It was an unspoken team rule to reassemble at the landing place if something went wrong, so he worked his way down the mountain. It appeared that Nya knew of this too, as she was waiting for them there.

"Nya! You're safe!"

"Yeah, barely. They've hypnotized everyone in town!"

"How'd you know where to find us?"

She wordlessly indicated the scattered dragon tracks in the snow. Cole rubbed the back of his neck. _Yeah, maybe we should be more careful in covering our tracks... _He focused back onto the conversation.

"Mind control?" Jay was asking. "How is this possible?"

Nya shuddered. "When you hear them rattle their tails, don't look them in the eyes! That's how they get to you."

Kai snorted. "Well this is great. We can't use our weapons, we can't spinjitzu, and now we have to fight with our eyes closed? Ha! Perfect!"

"I sense we might be able to use Spinjitzu," Zane spoke. "If the people are truly hypnotized, they won't remember anything from this time."

"Ok, we'll only use spinjitzu if it's absolutely necessary," Cole compromised.

"The snake with a staff is the general," Nya informed. "If we can get that staff, we might be able to reverse the hypnotism!"

"Sounds like a plan," the earth ninja agreed. "Look guys," he said, turning to his team. "Let's forget this whole green ninja thing. Let's just make Sensei proud."

The five young adults snuck back into the marketplace. Kai, being the rash one that he was, almost immediately abandoned the plan in favor of bashing some serpentine.

"You wanna play! How about some spinjitzu!" The fire ninja, heedless of Cole's shouts, changed into a dragon and smacked the serpentine with his wings.

Cole was close to buying his head in snow and screaming. _Does anyone listen to me? _"I said if only absolutely necessary!"

The red dragon turned and gave what could only be described as a cheeky smirk. Then his wings unfurled; he flew up and attacked the serpents with torrents of flame.

Cole sighed, but as Kai had revealed their secret, there was no benefit to be found in staying human. He flipped onto the ground. Lloyd, who was watching Kai, now turned to gape at the black ninja.

"What are you staring at," he growled.

Lloyd backed up against his wheelbarrow. "Nothing!" he squeaked. Then, seeming to recover his courage, he asked "You guys can turn into dregons?"

"Yeah, we can." The brat's eyes widened. He prepared to continue, but Cole cut him off. "So what? Beat it kid." Then, to send his point, he transformed and snarled in his face. As much as he desired to end the conversation, he wasn't prepared to use his elemental abilities... Yet.

"But wait! I've got something to tell you!"

The earth dragon actually did use his powers. He sucked in a deep breath and exhaled a cloud of dust into the boy's eyes. Without glancing back, he spread his wings and soared out of the cramped street.

"Was that really called for?" Zane chided.

"What? He was being annoying!"

The ice dragon snorted, but refrained from commenting further. The two dragons glided over the mountain, searching for the serpentine general. After several passes, Cole's companion located him.

"Okay Zane, can you get in there and freeze his tail or whatever? I'll get the staff."

He nodded. Taking advantage of his smaller wingspan, the white dragon spiraled down in concentrated circles. When he was almost level with the snake, he encased his lower half in ice.

Cole began his descent, starting gradually and gaining speed. He switched back into a human while still in the air and landed a solid kick on the serpent. The staff flew from his hand and clattered on the bricks. He bent over and took it into his hands.

Rattling. Cole glanced up, which was his fatal mistake. A pair of red eyes bore into him.

"I control you."

And everything went black.


	12. Hypnobrai

** Omo I forgot about those! I got it into my head that TiAtF was supposed to be updated tomorrow, but in reality it was supposed to be this ****today!**

**JayHawk134: I don't have the entire plot figured out, but I'm pretty sure that scene might get cut :( Still not sure though!**

**iluvninjagothenextstepgirl: Basically.**

**Guest: This poor kid, amiright? I mean, kidnappings, possessions, killing his father... Let's hope something goes right for him.**

"Let me go, you snakes!"

Skales glanced at the black ninja, who was struggling to break through his bonds. The ropes which bound him might've prevented him from doing his spinning thing, but they couldn't muffle his shouts and threats. The serpentine groaned mentally. _Why do humans have to talk so much?_ He closed his eyes and concentrated on his link with the ninja.

_SHUT UP!_ He commanded, using telepathy. Then, aloud, he added, "What a creative insssult, ssssseeing as we are, in fact, snakessss!"

The human glowered at him, unable to respond without first throwing off his spell. Skales smirked. While he usually preferred a strong bond, the weaker ones never let him access his prey's thoughts -and as a result, his mind was a blissful silence. _Finally! With the ninja leader captured, and the human brat taken from his spot of control, we'll be unstoppable!_

The serpentine warrior had to twist his head to see the boy. Lloyd trudged aloong near the rear of the line, his hands trussed and his head hung. _Serves him right, hypnotizing our general like that!_ Skales quickened his pace, slipping into a spot beside Slithraa.

"General, what are we going to do to thesssse prissssonersss?"

Slithraa humphed at the mention of the child. He'd been irate after he was freed from Lloyd's hypnotism, and rightly so. "We ssshall keep the black one asss a hostage," he decided. "But remove the other one from my ssssight. He'ssss of no consequence; I want him gone."

Skales tipped his head. "As you wissssh, General." He split away from the tailed serpentine and searched out the prisoners' guard.

"The general orders for the hatchling to be thrown out," he relayed. Good riddance!

Lloyd's eyes widened in fear. "No! You can't do that!" Without warning, he yanked the rope from the soldier's fingers. "General! You can't make me leave!"

Slitheraa turned around with an annoyed expression. "I certainly can," he retorted. "You'd best give up, little sssnakelet." His eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. "You can't win this battle."

For a second, the brat's eyes held terror. But they quickly changed into something else. Something that was dangerous as well. Now it was Skales' turn to be nervous. Two misty wings -giant, green, and glittering- rose from Lloyd's back. They spread above him in a threatening position, giving him an aura of authority.

"No! I won't go!" he shouted. "Let me stay! I belong here!"

Skales realized with horror that Slitheraa was noticeably swaying. H_e's hypnotizing him again! _He threw two scouts from his path and sprinted to his leader, but it was too late. The general was indeed under Lloyd's control.

_**LB**_

Cole felt like a bucket of icy water had been dumped him. _The kid has wings! Dragon wings! _He couldn't tear his eyes away from the space above Lloyd's head, even as he was tugged along. _They were green, too. Does that mean he's the green ninja?_

"Ssstop gawking," the snake in charge of him snapped. "There'ssss no time for daydreamssss!" He jerked his end of the rope, and Cole was brought back to the real world as the rough threads dug into his body.

"Tie them both," the one who'd hypnotized him snarled. "The general hassss agreed to keep the hatchling resssstrained, the sssssecond best option ssssince we can't kick him out."

Cole's guard half-bowed. "Assss you wissssh, Skalessss."

He was led into a small chamber coated in ice. Icy spikes poked out from all sides, and he glanced over them, trying to guess if they were sharp enough to slice through the thick ropes. _One visible exit. Seven giant icicles. Two prisoners. _The serpent secured Lloyd to an icicle which stretched from the ground to the ceiling. He then proceeded to undo Cole's bonds.

"No funny businesssss," he spat. "Or thesssse go back on."

The earth ninja complied, albeit begrudgingly. He knew he was outnumbered and out of his habitat. With such reasonings, he remained still as the soldier attached a chain to his foot; the other end was tethered to a different icicle. Cole waited until his captor had vanished down a corridor before crawling over to the other prisoner.

"Um, so how long have you been able to do that?"

Lloyd seemed startled that he was talking to him. "The wings?" He shrugged. "I dunno. A few months? A year?" A frown crossed his face. "I thought I'd been cursed at first," he confessed. "But the kids at my school are only so powerful. After it'd gone on for several weeks, I knew it wasn't a spell." Lloyd glanced up and met Cole's eyes. "What about you?" he demanded. "You're not just winged, you can change into a full dregon!"

Cole was unprepared. _How much do I tell? _He began to speak, carefully choosing his words. "Um, when I... I and my team spinjitzu -that's the spinning thing we do- we change into dragons."

"If I did this spinjitzu, would I become a full dregon too?"

If the previous question had been unexpected, this one was even more so. Cole needed a second to think out an answer. "Um, yeah, I guess it's possible..."

"Great!" Lloyd jumped to his feet. "Teach it to me!"

"Now?"

"When else?" The boy stomped his foot. "I wanna know!"

"Sorry kid," Cole said, not unapologetically. "I can't. Spinjitzu's not something you can learn overnight!" What is he thinking?

Lloyd crossed his arms. "Well I've got to escape, somehow!"

"Why?" Cole asked, more so from bitterness that genial interest. "Judging by your little stunt out there, you seem to be set!"

The boy laughed harshly. "If my luck continues, that hypno... hypno..."

"Hypnotism?" he supplied.

Lloyd scowled. "Yeah, that. It won't last." He lowered himself back to the floor. "I'll be kicked out. No one knows where I am. I'll probably freeze to death." His voice wavered, and Cole was shocked to realize he was sniffling. "My Dad's gonna be so disappointed."

"Hey, hey, don't cry!" Cole scooted closer to the small hooded child, his protecting nature making itself known. "My dad doesn't know where I am, either."

Lloyd wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve. "So? From what I've heard of you guys, you're all over the place!"

"No, it's not like that." Cole hesitated a second, but continued even against his better judgement. "See kid, my old man doesn't even know I'm a ninja." There. He was in too deep to go back now.

"Really? What does he think you're doing?"

"Never mind that," Cole answered evasively. Yes, he might feel sorry for the kid, but he wasn't going to spill his entire backstory! "Why would your dad be disappointed?" he asked instead.

"He's the greatest villain in Ninjago, and I can't even get a few snakes to listen to me!" Lloyd's voice cracked. "All I want is for him to be proud of me, to just notice my efforts!"

Cole blinked. "So you opened a serpentine tomb just for attention?"

"Of course not!" But his lack of eye contact told the black ninja otherwise. "I just want to make him proud," he whispered.

The earth ninja withdrew, pondering the new information. _He's really not all that bad, he's just a kid who needs to know he's wanted! _Cole could feel his earlier hatred for the child ebbing away. _I've got to figure out a way to escape, not just for my sake, but Lloyd's._

_**Lb**_

Kai circled high above the Treetop Forest, all senses alert. _Dang! Where could he be?_ He drew in his wings and swooped down until his claws brushed against foliage. _How could he disappear so fast? _He hovered momentarily then dove below the canopy.

"Cole? Cole! Are you in here?" he bellowed. The fire dragon paused, straining to hear any form of response. "Cole?"

Kai sighed, returning to the treeless sky. _I can't believe I have to go back, empty handed! _He spread his wings and spiraled into the upper atmosphere_. Think Kai, think! I didn't sneak out for nothing! The serpentine were locked in five separate tombs, which one held the blue ones?_

It was times like this when he wished Zane was with him, or even Jay for that matter. The ice ninja's sixth sense was uncanny, to be sure, but he wouldn't deny that it would be extremely helpful. And the blue dragon's generally upbeat attitude would help to tone down his own intense personality.

_Okay, so the black ones were in a mountain, I remember that. And... Were the vampire ones in a casket or something? _He spun in each direction, ignoring the tugging feeling that always came from the east._ Nya called these ones Hypnobrai. Weren't they related to ice?_

He decided to follow by his instincts, turing from the rising moon to the north. _Cole, you better be there._


	13. Into the Alps

**themarcobomb: N**

**iluvninjagoTNSBFWgirl: Oh, they will. The actual method of escaping might be... questionable, though.**

**ShadowNinja72: You don't know how much your reviews mean to me, not only on this fix, but all of them. They're what motivated me into finishing this chapter! Thank you for your encouragement! ^_^**

**guests: Cole and Lloyd have always seemed similar to me, they're both leaders, have dad issues, that sort of thing. **

**And on to the actual chapter! There's still a few things I might change and edit, but it's late and I really wanted to post this. **

Kai arrived at the Wailing Alps with the midday sun at its peak. His wings ached. His eyes burned. His body screamed for rest. But everything would be worth it, he reasoned, once he broke Cole out. A grin graced his face. _I'm never gonna let him live that down! _

He'd counted on difficulties locating the tomb, but with his exceptional eyesight and aerial view, it wasn't a challenge. Kai selected an area close to the serpentine lair yet hidden from any snake's keen eyes for his landing. He threw a saddlebag into the snow before diving down.

Transformation out of the way, Kai brushed the white powder from his clothing and stretched. Then he dug the pack from the snow and rifled through it for his costume. _Scrolls, weird flute-thing, brushes, aha!_

Kai scrutinized his disguise dubiously. In the evening light, he'd proclaimed it flawless. But now, beneath the sunlight, it was glaringly obvious in its faults. Kai scrunched his face. _How did I ever think this would work? Sure, Jay's only got a few inches on me, but he's skinny as a sword! _

With no other ideas, Kai's choices were limited: go back or continue with his costume plot. And Kai could never admit defeat. So he donned the lightning ninja's gi and slipped the mask with cardboard cutout earplates over his head.

Sneaking in was simple. All he needed to do was blend into the crowd. Kai trailed after a pair who seemed to be messengers. He paused at the entryway to a great chamber. In a second of rash decision, he abandoned his escorts and ducked into the room.

The tailed snake upon a throne was what drew Kai's attention. Another snake, one he recognized, was arguing with it. _That's the one who got to Cole! _ Kai thought quickly. He tore a patch from his robes and mimed polishing the ice. With this facade in place, he inched across the chamber.

"General," the legged one coaxed. "You're under a hypnotism! Jusssst sssnap out of it already!"

_Hypnotism? _ Kai puzzled. He snuck a glance at the snake. _But its eyes are green, not red! _

"I knew we sssshould have killed the hatchling!" the serpent whined. "Why did we spare him to be a prisssoner?"

"Because those were the general's orders!" another Hypnobrai piped.

"I know that!" the first snapped. "But that was only becausssse he was hypnotisssssed by the hatchling!"

_Hatchling?_ Kai nearly dropped his rag. _Lloyd can hypnotize people? Okay, the serpentine raiding a town for candy makes a whole lot more sense now. _

"Go ssssee if itsss doing anything," Cole's abductor commanded. "Knock it out, kill it, I don't care. Just make it ssssstop!"

The snake bowed and stalked out. Kai moved as swift as he dared without drawing attention.

"Hey," he called when they were out of earshot. "Wait up! He," he jerked a thumb back to the chamber, "Wanted me to come with you."

The snake shrugged. "Skalessss ssssent you? Jusssst don't get lossst."

The pair descended through a series of intertwining tunnels until Kai was hopelessly lost. They halted beside a door of iron. The snake reached for its set of keys, and Kai made his move. He socked it in the jaw and bashed its head against the wall. Then he twisted the keys free from its clutches and unlocked the door.

"Cole? Are you in here?"

—

Lloyd bit his lip, struggling to stay awake. How long had he been here, trapped by the serpentine? "Cole?" he ventured.

The earth ninja grunted in response; Lloyd took this as a sign to continue. "Do you have a plan yet?"

Cole finally glanced up from where he'd been etching plans into the ice. "Not yet, but I'm working on it," he mumbled.

With effort, Lloyd uncurled. He crawled to Cole's side, trying and failing to make sense of his scribblings.

"The only way I'd have a fighting chance against them is if my team was here. But in my current state, well, let's say I'd be lucky to take one down with me."

"Hey, waddabout me?" Lloyd slurred, yawning. "I can fight."

Cole's face blurred as his eyelids drooped. "Oh right!" he heard him say. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that!"

Something clashed against their door. Lloyd shot up, suddenly awake. "What was that?" He inched behind Cole as the banging continued. The earth ninja wrapped an arm around his shoulders, something Lloyd found comforting.

A figure crouched, black against the ice behind him. Lloyd immediately took him for a serpentine until he was closer, where he could tell that its hood and scales were fake.

Cole stood up and blinked several times. "Kai, that's a terrible disguise." The earth ninja clapped a hand to his forehead, something Lloyd didn't quite understand. Who's Kai?

The intruder crossed his arms. "Really? It's worked fine so far!" He removed his hood, and Lloyd suddenly recognized him as the spiky-haired ninja. The ninja's eyes wandered to Cole's side. "And why are you protecting that brat?"

Lloyd grunted as the black ninja pulled him in close. _Brat? Spike-hair's calling me a brat?_

"He's not actually that bad," Cole defended.

Spike-hair raised an eyebrow. "Cole, he attacked a village for candy! He's hypnotized the general too! You're really standing up for him?"

"I think he's the green ninja," Cole confided. "He has wings, Kai. Dragon wings. And they're green."

Spike-hair -Lloyd probably should start calling him by his real name- blanched. "Dragon wings?" he asked. "But I thought we were the only ones! And green?" He shook his head. "No, he can't be! I'm -I mean, one of us is!"

Lloyd felt uncomfortable, for he was clearly listening to a private conversation. "Um, Cole?" Both ninja stared at him. "Shouldn't we get outta here?"

"Yeah, we should," Cole agreed. "We'll talk later," he told Kai. "What supplies did you bring?"

"Supplies?"

"Yeah, you know, weapons, food -we're pretty hungry actually- maps, that kind of stuff."

Kai rubbed the back of his neck. "Umm, all I brought is in this pack." He unslung the satchel and deposited its contents onto the ice.

"A flute?" Cole was incredulous. "And the green ninja scroll?"

"I never got the time to switch bags," Kai defended. "And I had to sneak out!"

"A flute?" Lloyd unwrapped one arm and reached for the instrument. "Why can't we just charm the snakes to let us out?"

More staring. Lloyd rolled his eyes. "Don't you know the story of the sacred flutes? They were used to trap the serpentine in their tombs!"

"You think we can just play a flute and walk out?" Kai threw his hands in the air. "That's ridiculous!"

"Actually, the kid has a point. When I was little, a snake charmer came through our town. He could make them dance and sway by playing his flute."

"Do we really have any other option?" Lloyd asked.

"We could fight our way out," Kai suggested. Then he looked at Lloyd, who was half his hight and slurring like a drunkard. Cole wasn't much better, he swayed on his feet even as the fire ninja watched. "Okay, fine, we can't fight."

"Flute it is then," Cole finalized. "Does anyone know how to play?"


	14. Instinct

Me: *checks update date*

Me: *sweats*

Hi guys! Long time, no see, amiright? *nervous laughter* Anyways, here's the long-overdue chapter! I've slaved away at this and quite frankly, I'm tired of it, so it's staying like this!

**Guests: Aww, thanks! Glad you like their bonding ^_^**

**shadowninja72: Your reviews always make me so happy. Spike-hair indeed.**

**Jayhawk134: Interesting is definitely the word I'd use to describe this story. **

**themarcobomb: **( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

anyways, as a little refresher!

_**P**__**reviously, on DE:**_

_**Kai arrived at the Wailing Alps with the midday sun at its peak.**_

_**Cole stood up and blinked several times. "Kai, that's a terrible disguise."**_

_**"A flute?" Lloyd reached for the instrument. "Why can't we just charm the snakes to let us out?"**_

_**"You think we can just play a flute and walk out?" Kai threw his hands in the air. "That's ridiculous!"**_

_**"Do we really have any other option?"**_

Cole crept from the cell and followed after Kai, head down. The movements helped him to fight off the cold, although the weariness remained. He brushed his hand against his pocket, where the flute was concealed. _No, not yet_, he reprimanded himself. _This is the easy part!_

Kai was ahead of them, walking alongside a hypnobrai. Cole was still wondering how in the world the disguise had fooled the snakes, but the proof was before his eyes. Kai walked stiffly, his back rigid and arms tense. His panic was painfully obvious.

The tunnels were becoming brighter, Cole noticed, as he trudged after the two. _We must be nearing the surface by now._ He was soon proved right. One last twist led them out of the narrow passages and into the main chambers. _Out of the frying pan,_ Cole grimaced, _and into the fire._

"Now!"

Kai sprang at the Hypnobrai as Cole fumbled for the flute. He wet his lips. He took a breath. He raised the instrument.

A clear note sang from the flute, freezing the hypnobrai mid-strike. It collapsed to its knees, wailing and covering its ears. Cole nearly stopped, dumbfounded. _What's happening to it? _But he continued to play, weaving a simple melody from the notes.

Kai untangled himself from the snake. "Come on, now's our chance!" He dashed for the exit, heedless of Lloyd's cries of alarm.

"What have we got here?"

Cole rounded the corner and this time, he did stop playing. "Kai!"

The fire ninja was trapped by thick blue coils, but that wasn't the thing that shocked him. Kai's tendency to rush headfirst into things often landed him in this kind of situation, after all. No, the thing that flabbergasted him was the general. Or rather, whom the general was. _It's the one who got to me!_

"Sssso nice of you to drop by," the snake purred.

**LB**

"Jay? Brother, are you feeling well?"

The lightning ninja started, jumping up from his seated position. "Oh! Zane, I didn't see you there."

"You've been sitting for a while," the ice ninja noted. "Were you admiring the sunrise?"

"Uh, not really..." Jay trailed off, his gaze fixed once more upon the eastern horizon. He shook his head. "Sorry, Zane. I guess I'm just lost in thought."

The ninja of ice nodded. "I'm worried for Kai," he confessed, slipping into a meditative position. Jay plopped down beside him. "He's been gone three days now. That can only mean trouble."

Jay snorted. "Trouble? Really? I didn't know that!" He sprang to his feet and began to pace. "Let's see. Reckless fire ninja goes missing for three days, presumably to find our kidnapped leader. Oh, he could have told us so we could go with him, but noooooo, he has to leave in the middle of the night!" He sighed, continuing in a much weaker tone. "What could go wrong?"

Zane watched him patiently. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Exhale. "Yes." Jay sat down and promptly began to fiddle with his gi hem.

It was late into the afternoon when the pair transformed into dragons. Jay's wing muscles were still too weak, and while he soared and spiraled like he'd been born a dragon, his take-offs left much to be desired.

They had finished his exercises and were flying over the Badlands when Zane threw out his wings and looked towards the Wailing Alps.

"What's wrong?" Jay called, circling his smaller companion. "Do you see something?"

"The Hypnobrai tombs were in a Mountainous region, correct?"

"Yeah..." Jay said, not sure what he was getting at.

Zane turned to look at him. "I believe we've just found out missing companions."

**LB**

"Why did you have to challenge the general to a slither pit, Kai!"

"I didn't think the cave would actually melt, Cole!"

Lloyd paid the bickering pair little mind as he scrambled about, in search of a way to escape. He dodged a stalactite as it crashed down and weaved his way back to the ninja. "Guys! Can we argue later?"

Cole shot one last glower at Kai. His gaze darted around the room, flicking from one tunnel to the next. He closed his eyes. He began to mumble. He spun around and pointed. "The entrance! We can take off from there!"

The ninja bolted down the corridor; Lloyd cursing his short legs. He slid around a bend and slammed full force into a blue figure.

"I'm getting the ssstrangessst sssensse of deja vu," Skales commented dryly. In one hand he held the flute, while the other clutched his staff.

Lloyd clambered to his feet. His first thought was to seize the flute and run, but he was frozen in place. A feeling of calm washed over the boy. _Fight back! Fight back! _he told himself. But the time spent in the serpentine dungeon had taken its toll, and he couldn't find the energy.

Suddenly, his head cleared. Lloyd blinked owlishly, shuddering from head to toe. Skales was thrown across the room, sprawling across the floor. Powerful claws carefully scooped him up.

Lloyd clung to the dragon -Kai, he realized. Kai had come back for him. A strange yet warm feeling swelled in his chest, and a grin threatened to spill onto his face. Kai had come back.

The dragon made for the gaping mouth of the cave, wings beating furiously in the stale air. Light slapped Lloyd in the face. He let out an involuntary hiss, shielding his eyes. Kai growled out something, and the other dragon -Cole- bounded off the cliff side. His wings snapped open, catching the strong updrafts.

Kai wobbled again. He fought against the wind until he was above Cole. The fire dragon threw his legs back and flung his charge forward. Lloyd screeched until his breath was slammed out of him.

He sunk his fingers into the gaps between scales, gasping. When he'd recovered enough, he crawled forward and settled into a better position.

**LB**

"Kai? Kai!"

"Huh? What?" Kai shook his head. _What does he want now?_

"You blanked out on me there," Cole rumbled. "Are you feeling alright?" He banked away and flew around to examine him.

"I'm fine," Kai told him. And he did feel alert now- alert and worried. He'd never been one to lose focus, but it was happening to him more and more. In fact, the spacing out seemed to have begun somewhere around the time he first changed...

He decided to take the chance. "Hey Cole, do you ever feel like the east is just... calling to you?"

The earth dragon cocked his head. "Uh, not really. Why?"

Kai sighed. _Of course he wouldn't._ He waggled his wings. "I don't know. It's just- I get this feeling. From the east. It's like an instinct."

Cole looked at him with a curious expression, somewhere between confused and pitying. Kai never wanted to slap him more. But the earth dragon's flight wobbled as Lloyd pushed himself up, and the moment was lost. The human jabbed to the right with his finger.

"What's that?"

Kai snapped his head around. Something blue flashed by, bowling into Cole. Lloyd screamed, and a primeval instinct deep within him jump-started. Before he could even question himself, Kai's throat burned with fire.

The blur yelped, diving away from the blast. "Kai! What the heck?"

Kai blinked. The red haze cleared from his eyes, and he realized with horror that he'd just shot at Jay. Thankfully, he was spared the confrontation as the blue dragon caught sight of Lloyd.

"It's the Garmadon brat!" he shrieked. "Cole, he's on your back!"

He swatted at the boy with his wing, causing both of the dragons to dip dangerously in their flight.

"Knock it off, will you?" Cole grumbled, but his words held no real bite. "He's with me." His eyes met Kai's, and the fire dragon looked away.

"What was that about?" he hissed, the moment Jay had retreated.

Kai shrugged, but even that seemed flat to him. _What do I say? I have no idea? _The only problem was that he did have a idea. An idea that terrified him.

"You know what I was saying earlier? About instincts and stuff?" he finally said.

Cole nodded, and Kai could practically see the gears spinning in his head.

I think that my instincts are getting stronger," he continued, "and they're dragon instincts."


	15. Preparation and Meetings

Thatisnotacoconut: Sorry for the wait!

Fire and Ice Master 123: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Aliahra: so glad you like it! I hope this chapter is satisfying, even though it's really just a filler.

_**Previously on DE:**_

_**Lloyd paid the bickering pair little mind as he scrambled about, in search of a way to escape.**_

_**"The entrance! We can take off from there!"**_

_**Before he could even question himself, Kai's throat burned with fire.**_

**_Kai shrugged, but even that seemed flat to him. _What can I say?_ "I think it's the instinct thing again," he replied lamely. The next words were much harder to say. "Dragon instincts."_**

"Dragon instincts?"

Zane blinked, processing. The four- no, make that five- of them were sitting on the bedroom floor, pajamas on and junk food out.

Kai shrugged again. "I don't know, man." He popped another cheese puff in his mouth, crunching.

Cole furrowed his brow, reaching into his third helping of food that night. "How can you not know?" he pressed. "You're the one who called it that!"

The fire ninja shot him a dark glance. "All 'I'm saying is that my instincts are telling me to go east." He swallowed. "And I trust my instincts."

"But what's east?"

The question hung in the air. Zane didn't have an answer. He observed the faces of his team: Kai pensive, Cole concentrated, Jay and Lloyd trying to throw candy into each other's mouths.

"There's actually nothing that I can think of," he offered. "Ninjago is heavily populated in the west, but the amount of people thins as you go east."

Surprisingly, it was Lloyd who spoke next. "The City of Oroborous is supposed to be out there," he offered, hesitantly. Jay managed to launch a piece of candy into his ear.

Zane was shocked at how open Lloyd was being to the team. The hostility had all but vanished, leaving a hyper but more well-behaved child in its wake. _Perhaps Cole was right in bringing him back_, he mused.

"Oroborous? Uh, I'm pretty sure theres a reason it's called 'The Lost City'. Why would we even want to go there?"

"Oh shut up Kai, a few days ago you didn't believe that the serpentine even existed." Jay paused. "He has a point though. Why would we want to go there?"

Lloyd shrugged. "It was just an example of something that way."

Cole sighed. "Okay, but that doesn't really answer the question if we should go east or not."

"I think we should go."

Jay's eyes flickered across the room; Zane noted that he didn't make eye contact with anyone. "I've been feeling some of the same urges Kai described," he confessed. "And I feel called there too. We need to go. That's the only way to figure out this mess."

"We could ask Sensei," Zane began, but the others cut him off.

"Sensei doesn't know anything more about this than we do," Cole argued. "And with Ninjago's history with dragons, I think it's best to keep our cards close to our chests."

"What Sensei Wu doesn't know won't hurt him."

"I'm actually surprised that we haven't been attacked yet," Jay mused. At Kai's dry look, he hurried to correct himself. "I mean, by bounty hunters, not half-snake people."

"Eh, same difference."

**LB**

Jay unzipped his duffel for the fourth time, stuffing another wrench inside. It clanged into some other piece of metal- screwdriver, probably- and he winced at the resounding noise. Carefully, he re-zipped the duffel. The contents shifted as he picked it up, but thankfully, there were no loud sounds.

He eased open the door and slipped into the corridor. "You guy's ready?"

"I asked Lloyd to get some food for our trip," came Cole's voice. After a moment, Jay picked his silhouette from the shadows. "He should be occupied for a few minutes. Anyways, I needed to talk to you, and I don't want him listening."

"Is this about the green ninja thing?"

Kai appeared from another doorway, followed by Zane. Jay exchanged a look with him, but the ice ninja seemed just as confused as he was. "Green ninja thing?"

"Cole thinks that Lloyd is the green ninja," Kai stated bluntly. "Apparently, he saw the kid display green dragon wings while he was under hypnosis."

Cole sighed. "Well when you put it that way, Kai..." He turned his gaze to Jay. "Lloyd has a pair of green wings, that are kinda, I don't know, misty-like." He waved his hand in the air. "They actually remind me of the way that spinjitzu looks, if that makes sense. All the swirly colors and sparkles. Apparently, he's been able to do it for a while, too- longer than we have."

Jay couldn't help but let out an undignified squawk. _Lloyd Garmadon, Garmadon's son, the green ninja?_ Kai slapped a hand over his mouth. "Be quiet," he hissed. "We can't have anyone waking up."

Jay nodded, and Kai removed his hand. "The green ninja?" he repeated, quieter. "Lloyd?" But the more he thought about it, the more it would make sense. _Who better to bring balance to the world, than the son of the dark lord himself?_

"That is quite plausible," Zane mused. He seemed to have been following the same train of thought as Jay.

"So what do we do?"

"We protect him. We train him, we care for him, we prepare him for his role." Cole looked each one of them in the eyes. "He's gonna have a long journey ahead of him. He'll have many enemies. And it will be our duty to guide him on the right path."

Jay found himself nodding, Kai doing the same a second later. "I understand," he said, and he did, truly. _This is my destiny,_ he realized. _Not to be the green ninja, but to protect him_. I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to do my very best to keep him safe." The words rolled of his tongue, but he meant them.

"I agree," Zane added. "And I shall do my best to train the green ninja."

Jay felt a huge grin spreading across his face. "This kid is gonna have the best teachers," he beamed.

None of them noticed the glowing weapons on their backs, sealing their vows.

**LB**

Cole waited for Jay to secure the last satchel, before changing back into a human.

"Do you think this is really gonna work?"

"It's worked individually, so why not together?"

"Uh, guys?" Lloyd stared up at them, standing on the outside of their circle. "Aren't we going as dregons?"

Cole exchanged a glance with his team. "We are," he confirmed, "but just... not in the way you know."

The boy scrunched up his brow. "What are you talking about?"

"Just watch."

They walked a bit away, standing apart. Cole nodded to Kai, and the fire ninja spun into action.

"Fire!"

"Lighting!"

"Earth!"

"Ice!"

The tornado grew and grew, and Cole had to shut his eyes as the mass of colors burned into his vision. And then it was over, and he felt the familiar presence of his teammates in his mind. Only this time, he was much more prepared.

'Wow, forgot what this felt like. It's kinda weird having all of you in my head, though.' Cole glanced over at Kai's head, snorting. 'Makes planning easier,' he replied.

'Eh, but that's planning. When do we ever plan?'

'We plan, _you_ don't.'

'I hate to interrupt, but we should be moving on.' That was Zane's voice. 'It appears that our baggage has transferred over as well,' he noted, and Cole breathed a sigh of relief. _One less thing to worry about._

'Hey guys, look at Lloyd!'

The other three heads swung over to look where Jay was gesturing. Lloyd was hiding behind one of the pillars of the monastery. When he was certain nothing else was happening, he ran forward.

"Woah, that's pretty cool," he announced, taking in the four heads and giant wings. "Am- am I supposed to ride you?"

Cole bobbed his head, and thankfully, so did the others. He hesitated, then lowered them so that the boy could find purchase. Lloyd grinned slightly, clambering up a leg and settling into the spot where their necks met.

'Ready?'

Three voices echoed back in his mind. 'Ready.'

With a flap of wings, the green ninja and his guardians were gone, gone from the place that most of them had once called a home.


End file.
